The Mauraders and Lily Read The Half Blood Prince
by EmeraldFire512
Summary: Padfoot, Moony, Prongs and Lily all read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Join them as they read about Harry's thrilling sixth year at Hogwarts, and learn more about what the future will bring. W/ the occasional visit from your lovely author.
1. Intro: They Start to Read

**A/N**: Hey guys! I am back with another fic. Now, before you guys all come with your pitchforks and torches, I have been very busy lately, but Final Battle: Ginny's POV is set to be completed soon. The last chapter is currently being written, but I want it to be good, so I am taking my time.

Now, I decided to write this fic because I can find _nothing_ with anybody reading the sixth or seventh books, which are my favorites. So it this fic, Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius (not Peter, I didn't want to have the traitor there) will read the sixth book. When they are missing information, the author's well liked and wonderful text twin Isabelle will drop in with some needed info.

So enjoy!!!

p.s. all of my work well be in plain text, and all of J.K.R's will be in bold.now carry on.

Disclaimer for entire fic: I do not own the Harry Potter books. If I did, well I wouldn't be writing little fan fics on the internet now would I?

Messrs Moony and Padfoot, along with Mr. & Mrs. Prongs read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

James Potter walked into his house after an extremely long day at the Auror's training office looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet with his wife Lily. He hoped to be able to walk in, make himself a cup of tea, and snuggle up with Lily on the sofa.

As he stepped onto the threshold of their cozy cottage in Godric's Hallow, he comptiplated how wonderful things were. It had been less than a year since he had graduated from Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. Shortly after graduating, he joined the Auror department. A few weeks later he married the love of his life, Lily Evans.

Then they had settled down into a small cottage in the little hamlet of Godric's Hallow. Things had settled in nicely. He was going through the Auror training program, Lily worked in a potions shop where she not only brewed potions for sale, but also got to do some experimenting of her own. So far she had developed a formula to rid any witch of acne of all kinds, natural or cursed. They both were able to be home by a fairly early time, so as to better appreciate each other's company.

Other than the weekly Order meetings and occasional assignments, their life could be mistaken for a completely peaceful one, with no deranged dark wizard trying to control the world. His best friends often dropped by on their own accords.

As James turned the corner to enter the parlor, he was forced to assume that this was one of those times. Remus Lupin was, typically, stretched out on the sofa with an extremely chunky book, while Sirius Black was sprawled on an armchair, upside down nonetheless, chatting with Lily. Sometimes James thought that giving them each a key was one of the worst mistakes he had ever made.

"James!", cried Sirius elatedly upon seeing him.

So much for a quiet evening at home.

"Hey Sirius", James replied turning to Lily and raising and eyebrow. She rolled her eyes in return. "So," he continued, "been keeping Lils out of trouble?"

Lily huffed from her chair by the roaring fire that was a nearly exact match to shoulder length tresses. James grinned in response. He then turned to Remus,

"Moony, don't you have your own home to read at?" he joked. Remus carefully marked his place and turned his face so he was looking James in the eyes. James couldn't help but to give an involuntary shudder when the long ropey scar that Remus had received during the last full moon caught the light.

"Now Prongs, you know that any food at my place isn't nearly _half_ as edible as your food."

"Oh, so you only visit for the food, I see how it is."

"That is exactly it Prongs, your company is nothing compared to Lily's cooking."

"Oh, in that case maybe it would be better if I just changed the locks."

"Prongs my _dear_ friend, no you know you wouldn't do that. Just think, without you guys, Moony and I would both starve. You wouldn't want our deaths on you conscious, now would you?" Sirius joked.

Before James was able to think of a retort, there was a yelp of surprise and a curse as Remus held up a book slimmer than the one he had just recently discarded, though not by much, and rubbed his head where the book had struck him still cursing under his breath. He glared at Sirius.

"You wouldn't have anything to due with this now would you Padfoot?"

Sirius looked flabbergasted. Though it did seem like something that would be Sirius' 'clever' idea of a prank, judging by the look on his face James would have to say that he had not committed this particular crime. Remus apparently thought the same thing, because he dropped it and moved on.

"What is this?" he muttered, turning it over so as to read the cover. "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince." He looked up at the other three. "Ever heard of him?" James, Sirius, and Lily all exchanged looks and shook their heads in response. "Well," continued Remus, "I guess we had best just read it and find out. Shall I?"

The other three motioned for him to carry on, some more obscenely than others, so Remus began to read.

"**Chapter One: The Other Minister**…"


	2. Capter One: The Other Minister

Disclaimer: k, everything in bold, JKR's. Every thing NOT bold, mine. End of story, don't sue me.

Chapter One: The Other Minister

**Chapter 1: The Other Minister **

Sirius looked at Remus and James, "The other minister, does that mean…"

Remus: Yes Padfoot, the MUGGLE prime minister.

Sirius: why do they call him the PRIME minister?

James: because he's the only one.

Lily: like Tigger!

All of the mauraders look at her strangely, except for Remus who chuckled.

Lily: sigh you guys really need to expand your horizons.

Remus: _anyways…._

**It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his **

**office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without **

**leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind.**

Lily: Merlin! Don't you hate it when that happens!

Remus nods sympathetically while the other two look utterly bewildered at the idea of such a thing happening.

**He was waiting for a call from **

**the President of a far distant country, and between wondering when the **

**wretched man would telephone, and trying to suppress unpleasant memories **

**of what had been a very long, tiring, and difficult week, there was not much **

**space in his head for anything else. The more he attempted to focus on the **

**print on the page before him, the more clearly the Prime Minister could see **

**the gloating face of one of his political opponents. This particular opponent **

**had appeared on the news that very day, not only to enumerate all the **

**terrible things that had happened in the last week (as though anyone needed **

**reminding) but also to explain why each and every one of them was the **

**government's fault. **

Lily: (snorts) politics

**The Prime Minister's pulse quickened at the very thought of these **

**accusations, for they were neither fair nor true. How on earth was his **

**government supposed to have stopped that bridge collapsing? **

James: (wincing) bad luck mate

**It was outrageous for anybody to suggest that they were not spending enough on **

**bridges. The bridge was fewer than ten years old, and the best experts were **

**at a loss to explain why it had snapped cleanly in two, sending a dozen cars **

**into the watery depths of the river below. And how dare anyone suggest that **

**it was lack of policemen that had resulted in those two very nasty and well-**

**publicized murders? **

Sirius: is anybody else feeling a slight déjà vu?

The other three nodded grimly. They all had a feeling they knew where this was going.

**Or that the government should have somehow foreseen **

**the freak hurricane in the West Country that had caused so much damage to **

**both people and property? **

Remus: (sarcastically) now why does his all sound so familiar…?

**And was it his fault that one of his Junior **

**Ministers, Herbert Chorley, had chosen this week to act so peculiarly that he **

**was now going to be spending a lot more time with his family? **

Lily: I guess that is suppose to be odd?

**"A grim mood has gripped the country," the opponent had concluded, **

**barely concealing his own broad grin. **

**And unfortunately, this was perfectly true. The Prime Minister felt it **

**himself; people really did seem more miserable than usual. Even the weather **

**was dismal; all this chilly mist in the middle of July... It wasn't right, it **

**wasn't normal... **

James looked at the rest of them, "Dementors." They all nodded grimly in agreement.

**He turned over the second page of the memo, saw how much longer it **

**went on, and gave it up as a bad job. Stretching his arms above his head he **

**looked around his office mournfully. It was a handsome room, with a fine **

**marble fireplace facing the long sash windows, firmly closed against the **

**unseasonable chill. With a slight shiver, the Prime Minister got up and **

**moved over to the window, looking out at the thin mist that was pressing **

**itself against the glass. It was then, as he stood with his back to the room, **

**that he heard a soft cough behind him.**

Sirius: (dramatically) DUN-DUN-DAH!!!

Remus just shook his head while the Lily rolled her eyes and James grinned.

**He froze, nose to nose with his own scared-looking reflection in the dark **

**glass. He knew that cough. He had heard it before. He turned very slowly to **

**face the empty room. **

Sirius: DUN-DUN-DAH!!!!!!

This time they all sighed.

**"Hello?" he said, trying to sound braver than he felt. **

**For a brief moment he allowed himself the impossible hope that nobody **

**would answer him. However, a voice responded at once, a crisp, decisive **

**voice that sounded as though it were reading a prepared statement. It was **

**coming -- as the Prime Minister had known at the first cough -- from the **

**froglike little man wearing a long silver wig who was depicted in a small, **

**dirty oil painting in the far corner of the room. **

James: wait a minute…

Sirius: a coughing picture…

They looked at each other dramtically, "Magic!!"

**"To the Prime Minister of Muggles. Urgent we meet. Kindly respond **

**immediately. Sincerely, Fudge." **

Lily: Fudge, wasn't he a Hufflepuff a few years ahead of us…?

The guys all shrugged.

Lily: (sighs) you guys really need to broaden your horizons, meet more people.

**The man in the painting looked inquiringly at the Prime Minister. **

**"Er," said the Prime Minister, "listen... It's not a very good time for me... **

**I'm waiting for a telephone call, you see... from the President of--" **

**"That can be rearranged," said the portrait at once. The Prime Minister's **

**heart sank. He had been afraid of that. **

Lily: They actually…

James: Lily, we have no idea if any of this is true right now. Calm down.

**"But I really was rather hoping to speak--" **

**"We shall arrange for the President to forget to call. He will telephone **

**tomorrow night instead," said the little man. "Kindly respond immediately to **

**Mr. Fudge." **

Sirius: (singsong) Somebody is a bully, somebody is a bully, somebody is…

Lily: Sirius…

Sirius: yes Lily darling?

Lily: shut it.

Sirius: yes ma'am (salutes)

**"I... oh... very well," said the Prime Minister weakly. "Yes, I'll see **

**Fudge." **

**He hurried back to his desk, straightening his tie as he went. He had **

**barely resumed his seat, and arranged his face into what he hoped was a **

**relaxed and unfazed expression, when bright green flames burst into life in **

**the empty grate beneath his marble mantelpiece. He watched, trying not to **

**betray a flicker of surprise or alarm, as a portly man appeared within the **

**flames, spinning as fast as a top. Seconds later, he had climbed out onto a **

**rather fine antique rug, brushing ash from the sleeves of his long pin-striped **

**cloak, a lime-green bowler hat in his hand. **

Sirius: Floo!

All: WE KNOW!

Sirius: jeesh. Touchy-touchy!

**"Ah... Prime Minister," said Cornelius Fudge, striding forward with his **

**hand outstretched. "Good to see you again." **

**The Prime Minister could not honestly return this compliment, so said **

**nothing at all. **

James: (sagely) Well, they always they always say, if you don't have anything nice to say, then say nothing at all.

Lily heaves an exasperated sigh, but still can't manage to hide her small smile.

Sirius:You know, I've alwaly wondered. Who's they?

James: I've always wonder that too…

Lily: FOR THE LOVE OF MERLIN, CAN WE JUST GET ON WITH IT?!

James and Sirius look affronted, while Remus chuckled behind the book and continued reading.

**He was not remotely pleased to see Fudge, whose occasional **

**appearances, apart from being downright alarming in themselves, generally **

**meant that he was about to hear some very bad news. Furthermore, Fudge **

**was looking distinctly careworn. He was thinner, balder, and grayer, and his **

**face had a crumpled look. The Prime Minister had seen that kind of look in **

**politicians before, and it never boded well. **

Sirius: DUN-DU---- (he stoppped abrubptly at the look on Lily's face and scooted around the coffee table so he was now closer to Remus.)

**"How can I help you?" he said, shaking Fudge's hand very briefly and **

**gesturing toward the hardest of the chairs in front of the desk. **

**"Difficult to know where to begin," muttered Fudge, pulling up the chair, **

**sitting down, and placing his green bowler upon his knees. "What a week, **

**what a week..." **

**"Had a bad one too, have you?" asked the Prime Minister stiffly, hoping **

**to convey by this that he had quite enough on his plate already without any **

**extra helpings from Fudge. **

**"Yes, of course," said Fudge, rubbing his eyes wearily and looking **

**morosely at the Prime Minister. "I've been having the same week you have, **

**Prime Minister. The Brockdale Bridge... the Bones and Vance murders... not **

**to mention the ruckus in the West Country..." **

**"You--er--your--I mean to say, some of your people were--were involved **

**in those--those things, were they?" **

**Fudge fixed the Prime Minister with a rather stern look. "Of course they **

**were," he said, "Surely you've realized what's going on?" **

**"I..." hesitated the Prime Minister. **

**It was precisely this sort of behavior that made him dislike Fudge's visits **

**so much. He was, after all, the Prime Minister and did not appreciate being **

**made to feel like an ignorant schoolboy. **

Lily: I would have to say that he probably wouldn't

Sirius: Now who's interrupting? (and he was then forced to duck suddenly to avoid the pillow thrown at his head by a miffed Lily.)

**But of course, it had been like this **

**from his very first meeting with Fudge on his very first evening as Prime **

**Minister. He remembered it as though it were yesterday and knew it would **

**haunt him until his dying day. **

Sirius:(under his breath with a wary look at Lily) dun-dun-dah.

**He had been standing alone in this very office, savoring the triumph that **

**was his after so many years of dreaming and scheming, when he had heard a **

**cough behind him, just like tonight, and turned to find that ugly little portrait **

**talking to him, announcing that the Minister of Magic was about to arrive **

**and introduce himself **

**Naturally, he had thought that the long campaign and the strain of the **

**election had caused him to go mad. He had been utterly terrified to find a **

**portrait talking to him, though this had been nothing to how he felt when a **

**self-proclaimed wizard had bounced out of the fireplace and shaken his **

**hand. He had remained speechless throughout Fudge's kindly explanation **

**that there were witches and wizards still living in secret all over the world **

**and his reassurances that he was not to bother his head about them as the **

**Ministry of Magic took responsibility for the whole Wizarding community **

**and prevented the non-magical population from getting wind of them. It was, **

**said Fudge, a difficult job that encompassed everything from regulations on **

**responsible use of broomsticks to keeping the dragon population under **

**control (the Prime Minister remembered clutching the desk for support at **

**this point). Fudge had then patted the shoulder of the still-dumbstruck Prime **

**Minister in a fatherly sort of way. **

**"Not to worry," he had said, "it's odds-on you'll never see me again. I'll **

**only bother you if there's something really serious going on our end, **

**something that's likely to affect the Muggles--the non-magical population, I **

**should say. Otherwise, it's live and let live. And I must say, you're taking it a **

**lot better than your predecessor. He tried to throw me out the window, **

**thought I was a hoax planned by the opposition." **

**At this, the Prime Minister had found his voice at last. "You're--you're not **

**a hoax, then?" **

**It had been his last, desperate hope. **

**"No," said Fudge gently. "No, I'm afraid I'm not. Look." **

**And he had turned the Prime Minister's teacup into a gerbil. **

**"But," said the Prime Minister breathlessly, watching his teacup chewing **

**on the corner of his next speech, "but why--why has nobody told me--?" **

**"The Minister of Magic only reveals him--or herself to the Muggle Prime **

**Minister of the day," said Fudge, poking his wand back inside his jacket. **

**"We find it the best way to maintain secrecy." **

**"But then," bleated the Prime Minister, "why hasn't a former Prime **

**Minister warned me--?" **

**At this, Fudge had actually laughed. **

**"My dear Prime Minister, are you ever going to tell anybody?" **

**Still chortling, Fudge had thrown some powder into the fireplace, stepped **

**into the emerald flames, and vanished with a whooshing sound. The Prime **

**Minister had stood there, quite motionless, and realized that he would never, **

**as long as he lived, dare mention this encounter to a living soul, for who in **

**the wide world would believe him? **

**The shock had taken a little while to wear off. For a time, he had tried to **

**convince himself that Fudge had indeed been a hallucination brought on by **

**lack of sleep during his grueling election campaign. In a vain attempt to rid **

**himself of all reminders of this uncomfortable encounter, he had given the **

**gerbil to his delighted niece and instructed his private secretary to take down **

**the portrait of the ugly little man who had announced Fudge's arrival. To the **

**Prime Minister's dismay, however, the portrait had proved impossible to **

**remove. When several carpenters, a builder or two, an art historian, and the **

**Chancellor of the Exchequer had all tried unsuccessfully to pry it from the **

**wall, the Prime Minister had abandoned the attempt and simply resolved to **

**hope that the thing remained motionless and silent for the rest of his term in **

**office. Occasionally he could have sworn he saw out of the corner of his eye **

**the occupant of the painting yawning, or else scratching his nose; even, once **

**or twice, simply walking out of his frame and leaving nothing but a stretch **

**of muddy-brown canvas behind. However, he had trained himself not to look **

**at the picture very much, and always to tell himself firmly that his eyes were **

**playing tricks on him when anything like this happened. **

**Then, three years ago, on a night very like tonight, the Prime Minister had **

**been alone in his office when the portrait had once again announced the **

**imminent arrival of Fudge, who had burst out of the fireplace, sopping wet **

**and in a state of considerable panic. **

James: (sitting up intently) what happened?

the others shrugged.

**Before the Prime Minister could ask **

**why he was dripping all over the Axminster, Fudge had started ranting about **

**a prison the Prime Minister had never heard of, a man named "Serious" **

**Black, **

All of the others looked at Sirius who asked puzzeledly, "Me?"

**something that sounded like "Hogwarts,"**

Sirius and James broke out in an actual harmony of the Hogwarts song.

Lily looked like she wanted to say something, but Remus shook his head with a small smile on his face, forget it Lily, it's useless once they get going. Lily smiled back and waited bemusedly with Remus while James and Sirius finished up their last verse to the tune of the Mexican hat dance, complete with James sweeping Sirius around the living room in an impromptu tango.

Once they had finished and settled back into their seats, Lily looked up from the stain on the carpet she had just noticed and said, "are we ready now?" the two boys nodded and Remus carried on.

** and a boy called Harry **

**Potter,**

"Hey that's the title of the book!" James exclaimed.

** none of which made the remotest sense to the Prime Minister. **

**"...I've just come from Azkaban," Fudge had panted, tipping a large **

**amount of water out of the rim of his bowler hat into his pocket. "Middle of **

**the North Sea, you know, nasty flight... the dementors are in uproar"--he **

**shuddered--"they've never had a breakout before. Anyway, I had to come to **

**you, Prime Minister. Black's a known Muggle killer **

James: WHAT?! they all turn to look at Sirius who has gone ghostly pale.

**and may be planning to **

**rejoin You-Know-Who... **

Remus and Lily: WHAT?! they once again look at Sirius who is to shocked to respond.

**But of course, you don't even know who You-**

**Know-Who is!" He had gazed hopelessly at the Prime Minister for a **

**moment, then said, "Well, sit down, sit down, I'd better fill you in... Have a **

**whiskey..." **

**The Prime Minister rather resented being told to sit down in his own **

**office, let alone offered his own whiskey, but he sat nevertheless. Fudge **

**pulled out his wand, conjured two large glasses full of amber liquid out of **

**thin air, pushed one of them into the Prime Minister's hand, and drew up a **

**chair. **

**Fudge had talked for more than an hour. At one point, he had refused to **

**say a certain name aloud and wrote it instead on a piece of parchment, which **

**he had thrust into the Prime Minister's whiskey-free hand. When at last **

**Fudge had stood up to leave, the Prime Minister had stood up too. **

**"So you think that..." He had squinted down at the name in his left hand. **

**"Lord Vol--" **

**"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" snarled Fudge. **

**"I'm sorry... You think that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is still alive, **

**then?" **

**"Well, Dumbledore says he is," said Fudge, as he had fastened his pin-**

**striped cloak under his chin, "but we've never found him. If you ask me, he's **

**not dangerous unless he's got support, so it's Black we ought to be worrying **

**about. **

James: (looking at Sirius in disbelif) I repeat, WHAT?!

**You'll put out that warning, then? Excellent. Well, I hope we don't see **

**each other again, Prime Minister! Good night." **

**But they had seen each other again. Less than a year later a harassed-**

**looking Fudge had appeared out of thin air in the cabinet room to inform the **

**Prime Minister that there had been a spot of bother at the Kwidditch (or that **

**was what it had sounded like) World Cup **

James: the world cup was in England?!! AWESOME!!!

**and that several Muggles had been **

**"involved," but that the Prime Minister was not to worry, the fact that You-**

**Know-Who's Mark had been seen again meant nothing; **

Lily:(sarcastically) Oh no, that was a completely ironic coincedence.

**Fudge was sure it **

**was an isolated incident, and the Muggle Liaison Office was dealing with all **

**memory modifications as they spoke. **

**"Oh, and I almost forgot," Fudge had added. "We're importing three **

**foreign dragons and a sphinx for the Triwizard Tournament, quite routine, **

**but the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures tells **

**me that it's down in the rule book that we have to notify you if we're **

**bringing highly dangerous creatures into the country." **

Remus: (thoughtfully) hmm... wonder why?

**"I--what--dragons?" spluttered the Prime Minister. **

**"Yes, three," said Fudge. "And a sphinx. Well, good day to you." **

**The Prime Minister had hoped beyond hope that dragons and sphinxes **

**would be the worst of it, but no. Less than two years later, Fudge had **

**erupted out of the fire yet again, this time with the news that there had been **

**a mass breakout from Azkaban. **

**"A mass breakout?" repeated the Prime Minister hoarsely. **

**"No need to worry, no need to worry!" shouted Fudge, already with one **

**foot in the flames. "We'll have them rounded up in no time--just thought you **

**ought to know!" **

**And before the Prime Minister could shout, "Now, wait just one **

**moment!" Fudge had vanished in a shower of green sparks. **

**Whatever the press and the opposition might say, the Prime Minister was **

**not a foolish man. It had not escaped his notice that, despite Fudge's **

**assurances at their first meeting, they were now seeing rather a lot of each **

**other, nor that Fudge was becoming more flustered with each visit. Little **

**though he liked to think about the Minister of Magic (or, as he always called **

**Fudge in his head, the Other Minister), **

Remus: arago, the chapter title.

James: (eyebrows raised) arago? are you serious.

he then looked at Sirius, hoping that he would make one of his coveted, "no, I'm Sirius." jokes, but he still appeared to be completely in shock.

**the Prime Minister could not help but **

**fear that the next time Fudge appeared it would be with graver news still. **

**The site, therefore, of Fudge stepping out of the fire once more, looking **

**disheveled and fretful and sternly surprised that the Prime Minister did not **

**know exactly why he was there, was about the worst thing that had **

**happened in the course of this extremely gloomy week. **

**"How should I know what's going on in the--er--Wizarding community?" **

**snapped the Prime Minister now. "I have a country to run and quite enough **

**concerns at the moment without--" **

**"We have the same concerns," Fudge interrupted. "The Brock-dale Bridge **

**didn't wear out. That wasn't really a hurricane. Those murders were not the **

**work of Muggles. And Herbert Chorley's family would be safer without him. **

**We are currently making arrangements to have him transferred to St. **

**Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. The move should be **

**affected tonight." **

**"What do you... I'm afraid I... What?" blustered the Prime Minister. **

**Fudge took a great, deep breath and said, "Prime Minister, I am very sorry **

**to have to tell you that he's back. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back." **

There was dead silence as Remus, Lily, and James looked it other in shock and anger.

After a few moments, Remus said, "so, if he's back..."

"then he was defeated at one point." finished James. He looked at Lily who nodded grimmly.

**"Back? When you say 'back'... he's alive? I mean--" **

**The Prime Minister groped in his memory for the details of that horrible **

**conversation of three years previously, when Fudge had told him about the **

**wizard who was feared above all others, the wizard who had committed a **

**thousand terrible crimes before his mysterious disappearance fifteen years **

**earlier. **

**"Yes, alive," said Fudge. "That is--I don't know--is a man alive if he can't **

**be killed? I don't really understand it, and Dumbledore won't explain **

**properly--but anyway, he's certainly got a body and is walking and talking **

**and killing, so I suppose, for the purposes of our discussion, yes, he's alive." **

**The Prime Minister did not know what to say to this, but a persistent habit **

**of wishing to appear well-informed on any subject that came up made him **

**cast around for any details he could remember of their previous **

**conversations. **

**"Is Serious Black with--er--He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" **

"No." said Sirius quietly, "No, i wouldn't be!!" he said louder, looking at the other's frantically so ast o make sure that they believed him.

There was a split second of silence before Lily stood up and walked over to him. She kneeled down in front of him and hugged him. Then she took his face in her hands and looked him in the eyes, "Of course not." she said quietly, with the tiniest tear glistening as it ran down her left cheek. "You would never," she said, "and you know that." She let go of him and he looked at Remus and James for conformation. They both smiled and conffimed what Lily had just said. James leaned over and patted him on the shoulder comfortingly.

**"Black? Black?" said Fudge distractedly, turning his bowler rapidly in his **

**fingers. "Sirius Black, you mean? Merlin's beard, no. Black's dead. **

They all looked Sirius in shock. Then Lily began to sobb. James took her in his arms,but he let his own tears run into her hair. Remus' eyes were shimmering with unshed tears as he looked at one of his closest friends, who had been through everything with him, and tried to picture life with out Sirius. He then shook his head of those morose thoughts and began to read unsteadly, with Lily's sobbing as a soft back drop.

Sirius didn't know what to do. He just sat there and listened as Remus read. The sound of his friends voice was soothing, and it helped to ease the pain of finding out that he was going to die a little bit.

**Turns ****out we were--er--mistaken about Black. He was innocent after all. **

Lily raised her head and wiped her eyes, "see Sirius, i told you;, she said with a watery smile.

**And he ****wasn't in league with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named either. I mean," he **

**added defensively, spinning the bowler hat still faster, "all the evidence **

**pointed--we had more than fifty eyewitnesses--**

James gave Sirius a cooky grin, "you always did have a flair for drama Padfoot."

Sirius gave a shaky grin and half-heartedly tossed a pillow at James.

**but anyway, as I say, he's ****dead. Murdered, as a matter of fact. On Ministry of Magic premises. There's **

**going to be an inquiry, actually..." **

Remus looked up puzzeled, "why whould you have been murdered at the ministry? unless..." he trailed off

"Unless Voldemort had gotten into the ministry.", he finished. Knowing that he had died fighting Voldemort, he felt a little better. At least he had served assistance, to his dying day.

**To his great surprise, the Prime Minister felt a fleeting stab of pity for **

**Fudge at this point. It was, however, eclipsed almost immediately by a glow **

**of smugness at the thought that, deficient though he himself might be in the **

**area of materializing out of fireplaces, there had never been a murder in any **

**of the government departments under his charge... Not yet, anyway... **

**While the Prime Minister surreptitiously touched the wood of his desk, **

**Fudge continued, "But Blacks by-the-by now. The point is, we're at war, **

**Prime Minister, and steps must be taken." **

**"At war?" repeated the Prime Minister nervously. "Surely that's a little bit **

**of an overstatement?" **

**"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has now been joined by those of his **

**followers who broke out of Azkaban in January," said Fudge, speaking more **

**and more rapidly and twirling his bowler so fast that it was a lime-green **

**blur. "Since they have moved into the open, they have been wreaking havoc. **

**The Brockdale Bridge--he did it, Prime Minister, he threatened a mass **

**Muggle killing unless I stood aside for him and--" **

**"Good grief, so it's your fault those people were killed and I'm having to **

**answer questions about rusted rigging and corroded expansion joints and I **

**don't know what else!" said the Prime Minister furiously. **

Lily: and now the pointed fingers begin.

**"My fault!" said Fudge, coloring up. "Are you saying you would have **

**caved in to blackmail like that?" **

**"Maybe not," said the Prime Minister, standing up and striding about the **

**room, "but I would have put all my efforts into catching the blackmailer **

**before he committed any such atrocity!" **

**"Do you really think I wasn't already making every effort?" demanded **

**Fudge heatedly. "Every Auror in the Ministry was--and is--trying to find him and round up his followers, but we happen to be talking about one of the most powerful wizards of all time, a wizard who has eluded capture for almost three decades!" **

**"So I suppose you're going to tell me he caused the hurricane in the West **

**Country too?" said the Prime Minister, his temper rising with every pace he **

**took. It was infuriating to discover the reason for all these terrible disasters **

**and not to be able to tell the public, almost worse than it being the **

**government's fault after all. **

Lily: and grown men of power act like school children.

**"That was no hurricane," said Fudge miserably. **

**"Excuse me!" barked the Prime Minister, now positively stamping up and **

**down. "Trees uprooted, roofs ripped off, lampposts bent, horrible injuries--" **

**"It was the Death Eaters," said Fudge. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's **

**followers. And... and we suspect giant involvement." **

**The Prime Minister stopped in his tracks as though he had hit an invisible **

**wall. "What involvement?" **

**Fudge grimaced. "He used giants last time, when he wanted to go for the **

**grand effect," he said. "The Office of Misinformation has been working **

**around the clock, we've had teams of Obliviators out trying to modify the **

**memories of all the Muggles who saw what really happened, we've got most **

**of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures **

**running around Somerset, but we can't find the giant--it's been a disaster." **

**"You don't say!" said the Prime Minister furiously. **

**"I won't deny that morale is pretty low at the Ministry," said Fudge. **

**"What with all that, and then losing Amelia Bones." **

**"Losing who?" **

**"Amelia Bones. Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. **

**We think He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named may have murdered her in person, **

**because she was a very gifted witch and--and all the evidence was that she **

**put up a real fight." **

**Fudge cleared his throat and, with an effort, it seemed, stopped spinning **

**his bowler hat. **

**"But that murder was in the newspapers," said the Prime Minister, **

**momentarily diverted from his anger. "Our newspapers. Amelia Bones... it **

**just said she was a middle-aged woman who lived alone. It was a--a nasty **

**killing, wasn't it? It's had rather a lot of publicity. The police are baffled, you **

**see." **

**Fudge sighed. "Well, of course they are," he said. "Killed in a room that **

**was locked from the inside, wasn't she? We, on the other hand, know exactly **

**who did it, not that that gets us any further toward catching him. And then **

**there was Emmeline Vance, maybe you didn't hear about that one--" **

**"Oh yes I did!" said the Prime Minister. "It happened just around the **

**corner from here, as a matter of fact. The papers had a field day with it, **

**'breakdown of law and order in the Prime Minister's backyard--'" **

**"And as if all that wasn't enough," said Fudge, barely listening to the **

**Prime Minister, "we've got dementors swarming all over the place, attacking **

**people left, right, and center..." **

**Once upon a happier time this sentence would have been unintelligible to **

**the Prime Minister, but he was wiser now. **

**"I thought dementors guard the prisoners in Azkaban," he said cautiously. **

**"They did," said Fudge wearily. "But not anymore. They've deserted the **

**prison and joined He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I won't pretend that wasn't **

**a blow." **

**"But," said the Prime Minister, with a sense of dawning horror, "didn't **

**you tell me they're the creatures that drain hope and happiness out of **

**people?" **

**"That's right. And they're breeding. That's what's causing all this mist." **

Remus: that really sucks. especially because muggle can't make partonuses.

**The Prime Minister sank, weak-kneed, into the nearest chair. The idea of **

**invisible creatures swooping through the towns and countryside, spreading **

**despair and hopelessness in his voters, made him feel quite faint. **

**"Now see here, Fudge--you've got to do something! It's your **

**responsibility as Minister of Magic!" **

**"My dear Prime Minister, you can't honestly think I'm still Minister of **

**Magic after all this? I was sacked three days ago! **

James: so the new minister is...?

**The whole Wizarding ****community has been screaming for my resignation for a fortnight. I've never **

**known them so united in my whole term of office!" said Fudge, with a brave **

**attempt at a smile. **

**The Prime Minister was momentarily lost for words. Despite his **

**indignation at the position into which he had been placed, he still rather felt **

**for the shrunken-looking man sitting opposite him. **

Lily: well at least he has emotions.

**"I'm very sorry," he said finally. "If there's anything I can do?" **

**"It's very kind of you, Prime Minister, but there is nothing. I was sent here **

**tonight to bring you up to date on recent events and to introduce you to my **

**successor. I rather thought he'd be here by now, but of course, he's very busy **

**at the moment, with so much going on." **

**Fudge looked around at the portrait of the ugly little man wearing the long **

**curly silver wig, who was digging in his ear with the point of a quill. **

**Catching Fudge's eye, the portrait said, "He'll be here in a moment, he's just **

**finishing a letter to Dumbledore." **

**"I wish him luck," said Fudge, sounding bitter for the first time. "I've been **

**writing to Dumbledore twice a day for the past fortnight, but he won't budge. **

**If he'd just been prepared to persuade the boy, **

James:(puzzuled) what boy?

**I might still be... Well, maybe **

**Scrimgeour will have more success." **

**Fudge subsided into what was clearly an aggrieved silence, but it was **

**broken almost immediately by the portrait, which suddenly spoke in its **

**crisp, official voice. **

**"To the Prime Minister of Muggles. Requesting a meeting. Urgent. Kindly **

**respond immediately. Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic." **

**"Yes, yes, fine," said the Prime Minister distractedly, and he barely **

**flinched as the flames in the grate turned emerald green again, rose up, and **

**revealed a second spinning wizard in their heart, disgorging him moments **

**later onto the antique rug. **

**Fudge got to his feet and, after a moment's hesitation, the Prime Minister **

**did the same, watching the new arrival straighten up, dust down his long **

**black robes, and look around. **

**The Prime Minister's first, foolish thought was that Rufus Scrimgeour **

**looked rather like an old lion. **

Sirius: Scrimgeour!! (looking at James) our professor!

**There were streaks of gray in his mane of **

**tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a **

**pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even **

**though he walked with a slight limp. **

James: that's pretty much how he looks now.

**There was an immediate impression of **

**shrewdness and toughness; the Prime Minister thought he understood why **

**the Wizarding community preferred Scrimgeour to Fudge as a leader in **

**these dangerous times. **

James: yeah, Fudge does kind of sound like a push over.

**"How do you do?" said the Prime Minister politely, holding out his hand. **

**Scrimgeour grasped it briefly, his eyes scanning the room, then pulled out **

**a wand from under his robes. **

**"Fudge told you everything?" he asked, striding over to the door and **

**tapping the keyhole with his wand. The Prime Minister heard the lock click. **

**"Er--yes," said the Prime Minister. "And if you don't mind, I'd rather that **

**door remained unlocked." **

**"I'd rather not be interrupted," said Scrimgeour shortly, "or watched," he **

**added, pointing his wand at the windows, so that the curtains swept across **

**them. "Right, well, I'm a busy man, so let's get down lo business. First of all, **

**we need to discuss your security." **

**The Prime Minister drew himself up to his fullest height and replied, "I **

**am perfectly happy with the security I've already got, thank you very--" **

**"Well, we're not," Scrimgeour cut in.**

Lily: he's pushy.

James: well I guess some things never change!

** "It'll be a poor lookout for the ****Muggles if their Prime Minister gets put under the Imperius Curse. The new **

**secretary in your outer office--" **

**"I'm not getting rid of Kingsley Shacklebolt, if that's what you're **

**suggesting!" **

They all look at each other.

"Kingsley!" they exclaim in unison, glad that there is atleast one commpitent person fighting agianst Voldemort.

**said the Prime Minister hotly. "He's highly efficient, gets **

**through twice the work the rest of them--" **

**"That's because he's a wizard," said Scrimgeour, without a flicker of a **

**smile. "A highly trained Auror, who has been assigned to you for your **

**protection." **

**"Now, wait a moment!" declared the Prime Minister. "You can't just put **

**your people into my office, I decide who works for me--" **

**"I thought you were happy with Shacklebolt?" said Scrimgeour coldly. **

**"I am--that's to say, I was--" **

**"Then there's no problem, is there?" said Scrimgeour. **

**"I... well, as long as Shacklebolt's work continues to be... er... excellent," **

**said the Prime Minister lamely, but Scrimgeour barely seemed to hear him. **

**"Now, about Herbert Chorley, your Junior Minister," he continued. "The **

**one who has been entertaining the public by impersonating a duck." **

**"What about him?" asked the Prime Minister. **

**"He has clearly reacted to a poorly performed Imperius Curse," said **

**Scrimgeour. "It's addled his brains, but he could still be dangerous." **

**"He's only quacking!" said the Prime Minister weakly. "Surely a bit of a **

**rest... Maybe go easy on the drink..." **

**"A team of Healers from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and **

**Injuries are examining him as we speak. So far he has attempted to strangle **

**three of them," said Scrimgeour. "I think it best that we remove him from **

**Muggle society for a while." **

Sirius: (sarcasticaly) you think?

**"I... well... He'll be all right, won't he?" said the Prime Minister anxiously. **

**Scrimgeour merely shrugged, already moving back toward the fireplace. **

**"Well, that's really all I had to say. I will keep you posted of **

**developments, Prime Minister--or, at least, I shall probably be too busy to **

**come personally, in which case I shall send Fudge here. He has consented to **

**stay on in an advisory capacity." **

**Fudge attempted to smile, but was unsuccessful; he merely looked as **

**though he had a toothache. Scrimgeour was already rummaging in his **

**pocket for the mysterious powder that turned the fire green. The Prime **

**Minister gazed hopelessly at the pair of them for a moment, then the words **

**he had fought to suppress all evening burst from him at last. **

**"But for heaven's sake--you're wizards! You can do magic! Surely you **

**can sort out--well--anything!" **

Remus: ummm... well...

**Scrimgeour turned slowly on the spot and exchanged an incredulous look **

**with Fudge, who really did manage a smile this time as he said kindly, "The **

**trouble is, the other side can do magic too, Prime Minister." **

**And with that, the two wizards stepped one after the other into the bright **

**green fire and vanished.**

Remus: sooo, that was chapter one. Do you guys want to keep going?

James: sure, why not?

A/N, so like it hate it? let me know! push the littel 'go' button to tell me. I may be a while, before the next update, but for now...

world peace: I have repayed my debt!!

ciao to you all!!!


	3. Chapter Two: Spinner's End

_A/N: _Yeah… that took a while. I have many reasons why it took so long, but it would take too long to list them all. The main three are the fact that I was out of the country for a while (Spain is amazing!) and the other, more fundamental reasons would be the fact that I lost all of my text files of the book, and it takes WAY too long to type them all out. But now, thanks to 14hp1, I have books six and seven saved. So, updates should be faster. The other reason is because this chapter is boring. I hated it when I first read the book, because I wanted to get to the story, and it took forever to get through this one first. It was horrible. So, it took me a while to actually force myself to read it. And there will be other changes to the story, which will be more obvious after this chapter. So, R, R, and Enjoy!

"So who's reading next." Remus questioned as he glanced at the warily at the length of the book, "because I don't quite fancy the idea of reading this whole thing aloud by myself."

"I'll do it", volunteered Sirius. His offer was met with shocked silence and bewildered looks.

"Did Sirius Black…" began James.

"…just offer to read a book?" finished a flummoxed Lily.

Remus jumped up from his spot on the sofa with his wand drawn and pointed it at Sirius' chest, "Who are you and what have you done with Sirius Black?" he demanded.

Sirius rolled his eyes and reached for the book. "Very funny guys" he said dryly as he began to read.

**CHAPTER TWO: SPINNER'S END **

Lily looked thoughtful. James was staring at her inquisitively. She returned from the stupor she had fallen into and gave him a small smile.

"That name sounds very familiar," she explained, "I just can't remember where I know it from."

**Many miles away the chilly mist that had pressed against the Prime Minister's windows drifted over a dirty river that wound between overgrown, rubbish-strewn banks.**

"Sounds pleasant," James quipped.

**An immense chimney, relic of a disused mill, reared up, shadowy and ominous. There was no sound apart from the whisper of the black water and no sign of life apart from a scrawny fox that had slunk down the bank to nose **

**hopefully at some old fish-and-chip wrappings in the tall grass. **

**But then, with a very faint pop, a slim, hooded figure appeared out of thin air on the edge of the river. **

"Wizard!" cried Sirius triumphantly before returning to the reading.

**The fox froze, wary eyes fixed upon this strange new phenomenon. The figure seemed to take its bearings for a few moments, then set off with light, quick strides, its long cloak rustling over the grass. **

**With a second and louder pop, another hooded figure materialized. **

"Another Wizard!"

"Merlin Padfoot, you even interrupt yourself!"

"Well Jamie darling, I believe in universal interruption." Sirius stated haughtily before returning to the book in his hands, leaving James to mutter "_Jamie?!_" under his breath.

"**Wait!" **

**The harsh cry startled the fox, now crouching almost flat in the undergrowth. It leapt from its hiding place and up the bank. There was a flash of green light, a yelp, and the fox fell back to the ground, dead. **

**The second figure turned over the animal with its toe. **

"**Just a fox," said a woman's voice dismissively from under the hood. "I thought perhaps an Auror — Cissy, wait!" **

This drew dark looks from all over the room.

**But her quarry, who had paused and looked back at the flash of light, was already scrambling up the bank the fox had just fallen down. **

"**Cissy — Narcissa — listen to me —" **

Sirius stopped reading again, looking at the name on the page. Narcissa. Like his cousin? He shrugged and resumed reading.

**The second woman caught the first and seized her arm, but the other wrenched it away. **

"**Go back, Bella!" **

Bella. Well that cinched that. Sirius swore, and Lily looked imploringly at him.

"My cousins," he explained simply. Her look darkened. She knew where this was leading.

"**You must listen to me!" **

"**I've listened already. I've made my decision. Leave me alone!" **

**The woman named Narcissa gained the top of the bank, where a line of old railings separated the river from a narrow, cobbled street. The other woman, Bella, followed at once. Side by side they stood looking across the road at the rows and rows of dilapidated brick houses, their windows dull and blind in the darkness. **

"**He lives here?" asked Bella in a voice of contempt. "Here? In this Muggle dunghill? We must be the first of our kind ever to set foot —" **

**But Narcissa was not listening; she had slipped through a gap in the rusty railings and was already hurrying across the road. "Cissy, wait!" **

**Bella followed, her cloak streaming behind, and saw Narcissa darting through an alley between the houses into a second, almost identical street. Some of the streetlamps were broken; the two women were running between patches of light and deep darkness. The pursuer caught up with her prey just as she turned another corner, this time succeeding in catching hold of her arm and swinging her around so that they faced each other. **

"**Cissy, you must not do this, you can't trust him —" **

"**The Dark Lord trusts him, doesn't he?" **

"**The Dark Lord is…I believe…mistaken," **

Sirius stopped reading for a moment to smile wistfully. There was an overwhelmingly pleasant image in his head of his _dear_ cousin Bellatrix being smighted by a bolt of lightning from her "Dark Lord".

**Bella panted, and her eyes gleamed momentarily under her hood as she looked around to check that they were indeed alone. **

"Somebody's paranoid." Remus said icily, with a smirk on his face.

"**In any case, we were told not to speak of the plan to anyone. This is a betrayal of the Dark Lord's —" **

"**Let go, Bella!" snarled Narcissa, and she drew a wand from beneath her cloak, holding it threateningly in the other's face. Bella merely laughed. **

"**Cissy, your own sister? You wouldn't —" **

"**There is nothing I wouldn't do anymore!" Narcissa breathed, a note of hysteria in her voice, **

Lily frowned thoughtfully. "I wonder what has gotten into her," she mused.

**and as she brought down the wand like a knife, there was another flash of light. Bella let go of her sister's arm as though burned. **

"You must have forgotten your sunscreen, 'cause you just got burned!" Sirius quipped gleefully. James and Remus looked at him dubiously, while Lily raised an eyebrow. In response, he shrugged. "Muggle saying," he explained, and returned to the book.

"**Narcissa!" **

**But Narcissa had rushed ahead. Rubbing her hand, her pursuer followed again, keeping her distance now, as they moved deeper into the deserted labyrinth of brick houses. At last, Narcissa hurried up a street named Spinner's End, over which the towering mill chimney seemed to hover like a giant admonitory finger. Her footsteps echoed on the cobbles as she passed boarded and broken windows, until she reached the very last house, where a dim light glimmered through the curtains in a downstairs room. **

**She had knocked on the door before Bella, cursing under her breath, had caught up. Together they stood waiting, panting slightly, breathing in the smell of the dirty river that was carried to them on the night breeze. After a few seconds, they heard movement behind the door and it opened a crack. A sliver of a man could be seen looking out at them, a man with long black hair parted in curtains around a sallow face and black eyes. **

**Narcissa threw back her hood. She was so pale that she seemed to shine in the darkness; the long blonde hair streaming down her back gave her the look of a drowned person. **

"**Narcissa!" said the man, opening the door a little wider, so that the light fell upon her and her sister too. "What a pleasant surprise! **

"**Severus," **

"Snivellus?!" James and Sirius exclaimed, while Remus raised his eyebrows appraisingly and Lily's emerald eyes grew harder at the mention of her former friend, and the reminder of what he had become.

**she said in a strained whisper. "May I speak to you? It's urgent." **

"**But of course." **

**He stood back to allow her to pass him into the house. Her still-hooded sister followed without invitation. **

"**Snape," she said curtly as she passed him. **

"**Bellatrix," he replied, his thin mouth curling into a slightly mocking smile as he closed the door with a snap behind them. **

**They had stepped directly into a tiny sitting room, which had the feeling of a dark, padded cell. The walls were completely covered in books, **

Lily allowed herself a small smile at this. It would be like Severus to cover every spare inch of his house with books.

**most of them bound in old black or brown leather; a threadbare sofa, an old armchair, and a rickety table stood grouped together in a pool of dim light **

**cast by a candle-filled lamp hung from the ceiling. The place had an air of neglect, as though it was not usually inhabited. **

"Oh!", came Lily's epiphany, "I remember where I remember this place from!" she paused for a moment, whether to add dramatic effect or enjoy the suffering look on Sirius' face, James couldn't tell. After what felt like several minutes, she continued, "it's Severus' house! I went over there once before we started Hogwarts." She shuddered at the memory. Tobias Snape was not a pleasant man to associate with. She had refused to every go over to that house again.

**Snape gestured Narcissa to the sofa. She threw off her cloak, cast it aside, and sat down, staring at her white and trembling hands clasped in her lap. Bellatrix lowered her hood more slowly. Dark as her sister was fair, with heavily lidded eyes and a strong jaw, she did not take her gaze from Snape as she moved to stand behind Narcissa. **

"**So, what can I do for you?" Snape asked, settling himself in the armchair opposite the two sisters. **

"**We…we are alone, aren't we?" Narcissa asked quietly. **

"**Yes, of course. Well, Wormtail's here, **

The boys looked at each other in panic. It couldn't be Peter, could it?

**but we're not counting vermin, are we?" **

**He pointed his wand at the wall of books behind him and with a bang, a hidden door flew open, revealing a narrow staircase upon which a small man stood frozen. **

"**As you have clearly realized, Wormtail, we have guests," said Snape lazily. **

**The man crept, hunchbacked, down the last few steps and moved into the room. He had small, watery eyes, a pointed nose,**

"That description is too accurate for my liking." James muttered.

**and wore an unpleasant simper. His left hand was caressing his right, which looked as though it was encased in a bright silver glove.**

Remus interrupted his worry to look thoughtful.

"Wonder why that's important?" he mused.

Sirius stopped reading to roll his eyes at his friend.

"Only you would think of something like that in the middle of a question like this Moony."

"**Narcissa!" he said, in a squeaky voice. "And Bellatrix! How charming —"**

"Sleezeball" muttered Lily.

"**Wormtail will get us drinks, if you'd like them," said Snape. "And then he will return to his bedroom." **

"That's harsh."

**Wormtail winced as though Snape had thrown something at him. **

"**I am not your servant!" he squeaked, avoiding Snape's eye.**

"Coward" muttered James. However, he was growing more worried. This "Wormtail" character was looking too much like Peter for his liking.

"**Really? I was under the impression that the Dark Lord placed you here to assist me." **

"**To assist, yes — but not to make you drinks and — and clean your house!" **

"**I had no idea, Wormtail, that you were craving more dangerous assignments," said Snape silkily. "This can be easily arranged: I shall speak to the Dark Lord —" **

"**I can speak to him myself if I want to!" **

"**Of course you can," said Snape, sneering. "But in the meantime, bring us drinks. Some of the elf-made wine will do." **

**Wormtail hesitated for a moment, looking as though he might argue, but then turned and headed through a second hidden door. They heard banging and a clinking of glasses. Within seconds he was back, bearing a dusty bottle and three glasses upon a tray. He dropped these on the rickety table and scurried from their presence, slamming the book-covered door behind him. **

**Snape poured out three glasses of bloodred wine and handed two of them to the sisters. Narcissa murmured a word of thanks, whilst Bellatrix said nothing, but continued to glower at Snape. This did not seem to discompose him; on the contrary, he looked rather amused. **

"**The Dark Lord," he said, raising his glass and draining it. **

"Bastards" muttered Sirius

**The sisters copied him. Snape refilled their glasses. As Narcissa took her second drink she said in a rush, "Severus, I'm sorry to come here like this, but I had to see you. I think you are the only one who can help me —" **

Remus pursed his lips, "Somebody's deperate", her muttered wryly. Narcissa and Lucius were famously arrogant. If she was that desperate for help that she would consent to beg such as that, something was not good.

**Snape held up a hand to stop her, then pointed his wand again at the concealed staircase door. There was a loud bang and a squeal, followed by the sound of Wormtail scurrying back up the stairs. **

"**My apologies," said Snape. "He has lately taken to listening at doors, I don't know what he means by it…You were saying, Narcissa?" **

**She took a great, shuddering breath and started again. **

"**Severus, I know I ought not to be here, I have been told to say nothing to anyone, but —" **

"**Then you ought to hold your tongue!" snarled Bellatrix. "Particularly in present company!" **

"The bitch doesn't trust Snivellus", muttered Sirius darkly, pointedly ignoring Lily's hurt expression. They had never gotten over their Snape dsisagreement, and for the sake of their friendship, had agreed to disagree.

'"**Present company'?" repeated Snape sardonically. "And what am I to understand by that, Bellatrix?" **

"**That I don't trust you, Snape, as you very well know!" **

**Narcissa let out a noise that might have been a dry sob and covered her face with her hands. **

**Snape set his glass down upon the table and sat back again, his hands upon the arms of his chair, **

**smiling into Bellatrix's glowering face. **

"**Narcissa, I think we ought to hear what Bellatrix is bursting to say; it will save tedious **

**interruptions. Well, continue, Bellatrix," said Snape. "Why is it that you do not trust me?" **

"**A hundred reasons!" she said loudly, striding out from behind the sofa to slam her glass upon **

**the table. "Where to start! Where were you when the Dark Lord fell? Why did you never make any **

**attempt to find him when he vanished? What have you been doing all these years that you've lived in **

**Dumbledore's pocket? Why did you stop the Dark Lord procuring the Sorcerer's Stone? Why did **

**you not return at once when the Dark Lord was reborn? Where were you a few weeks ago when we **

**battled to retrieve the prophecy for the Dark Lord? And why, Snape, is Harry Potter still alive, when **

**you have had him at your mercy for five years?" **

Lily cried "still alive?!" as James yelled "and his mercy?!", and Sirius moaned, "5 years with Snivellus?!" and Remus chuckled at the lot of them.

**She paused, her chest rising and falling rapidly, the color high in her cheeks. Behind her, **

**Narcissa sat motionless, her face still hidden in her hands. **

**Snape smiled. **

"**Before I answer you — oh yes, Bellatrix, I am going to answer! You can carry my words back to **

**the others who whisper behind my back, and carry false tales of my treachery to the Dark Lord! **

**Before I answer you, I say, let me ask a question in turn. Do you really think that the Dark Lord has **

**not asked me each and every one of those questions? And do you really think that, had I not been **

**able to give satisfactory answers, I would be sitting here talking to you?" **

**She hesitated. **

"**I know he believes you, but…" **

"**You think he is mistaken? Or that I have somehow hoodwinked him? Fooled the Dark Lord, **

**the greatest wizard, the most accomplished Legilimens the world has ever seen?" **

**Bellatrix said nothing, but looked, for the first time, a little discomfited. Snape did not press the **

**point. He picked up his drink again, sipped it, and continued, "You ask where I was when the Dark **

**Lord fell. I was where he had ordered me to be, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, **

**because he wished me to spy upon Albus Dumbledore. You know, I presume, that it was on the **

**Dark Lord's orders that I took up the post?" **

Sirius looked aghast, "Snivellus, a bloody _teacher_?!"

**She nodded almost imperceptibly and then opened her mouth, but Snape forestalled her. **

"**You ask why I did not attempt to find him when he vanished. For the same reason that Avery, Yaxley, the Carrows, Greyback, Lucius"— he inclined his head slightly to Narcissa — "and many others did not attempt to find him. I believed him finished. I am not proud of it, I was wrong, but there it is…If he had not forgiven we who lost faith at that time, he would have very few followers **

**left." **

"**He'd have me!" said Bellatrix passionately. "I, who spent many years in Azkaban for him!" **

"**Yes, indeed, most admirable," said Snape in a bored voice. "Of course, you weren't a lot of use to him in prison, but the gesture was undoubtedly fine —" **

"**Gesture!" she shrieked; in her fury she looked slightly mad. "While I endured the dementors, you remained at Hogwarts, comfortably playing Dumbledore's pet!" **

"**Not quite," said Snape calmly. "He wouldn't give me the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, you know. Seemed to think it might, ah, bring about a relapse…tempt me into my old ways." **

"**This was your sacrifice for the Dark Lord, not to teach your favorite subject?" she jeered. "Why did you stay there all that time, Snape? Still spying on Dumbledore for a master you believed dead?" **

"**Hardly," said Snape, "although the Dark Lord is pleased that I never deserted my post: I had sixteen years of information on Dumbledore to give him when he returned, a rather more useful welcome-back present than endless reminiscences of how unpleasant Azkaban is…" **

"**But you stayed —" **

"**Yes, Bellatrix, I stayed," said Snape, betraying a hint of impatience for the first time. "I had a comfortable job that I preferred to a stint in Azkaban. They were rounding up the Death Eaters, you know. Dumbledore's protection kept me out of jail; it was most convenient and I used it. I repeat: The Dark Lord does not complain that I stayed, so I do not see why you do. **

"**I think you next wanted to know," he pressed on, a little more loudly, for Bellatrix showed **

**every sign of interrupting, "why I stood between the Dark Lord and the Sorcerer's Stone. That is **

**easily answered. He did not know whether he could trust me. He thought, like you, that I had **

**turned from faithful Death Eater to Dumbledore's stooge. He was in a pitiable condition, very weak, **

**sharing the body of a mediocre wizard. He did not dare reveal himself to a former ally if that ally **

**might turn him over to Dumbledore or the Ministry. I deeply regret that he did not trust me. He **

**would have returned to power three years sooner. As it was, I saw only greedy and unworthy Quirrell **

**attempting to steal the stone and, I admit, I did all I could to thwart him." **

**Bellatrix's mouth twisted as though she had taken an unpleasant dose of medicine. **

"**But you didn't return when he came back, you didn't fly back to him at once when you felt the **

**Dark Mark burn —" **

"**Correct. I returned two hours later. I returned on Dumbledore's orders." **

"Well," said Lily softly, "he is certainly somebody's spy." She took this to heart, maybe there was hope for her friend after all.

"**On Dumbledore's —?" she began, in tones of outrage. **

"**Think!" said Snape, impatient again. "Think! By waiting two hours, just two hours, I ensured that I could remain at Hogwarts as a spy! By allowing Dumbledore to think that I was only returning to the Dark Lord's side because I was ordered to, I have been able to pass information on Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix ever since! Consider, Bellatrix: The Dark Mark had been growing stronger for months. I knew he must be about to return, all the Death Eaters knew! I had **

**plenty of time to think about what I wanted to do, to plan my next move, to escape like Karkaroff, didn't I? **

"**The Dark Lord's initial displeasure at my lateness vanished entirely, I assure you, when I **

**explained that I remained faithful, although Dumbledore thought I was his man. Yes, the Dark Lord thought that I had left him forever, but he was wrong." **

"**But what use have you been?" sneered Bellatrix. "What useful information have we had from you?" **

"**My information has been conveyed directly to the Dark Lord," said Snape. "If he chooses not to share it with you —" **

"**He shares everything with me!" said Bellatrix, firing up at once. "He calls me his most loyal, his most faithful —" **

"**Does he?" said Snape, his voice delicately inflected to suggest his disbelief. "Does he still, after the fiasco at the Ministry?" **

"**That was not my fault!" said Bellatrix, flushing. "The Dark Lord has, in the past, entrusted me with his most precious — if Lucius hadn't —" **

"**Don't you dare — don't you dare blame my husband!" said Narcissa, in a low and deadly voice, looking up at her sister. **

"**There is no point apportioning blame," said Snape smoothly. "What is done, is done." **

"**But not by you!" said Bellatrix furiously. "No, you were once again absent while the rest of us ran dangers, were you not, Snape?" **

"**My orders were to remain behind," said Snape. "Perhaps you disagree with the Dark Lord, perhaps you think that Dumbledore would not have noticed if I had joined forces with the Death Eaters to fight the Order of the Phoenix? **

"Or visa-versa," muttered Lily, sstill clinging to that one bit of hope.

**And — forgive me — you speak of dangers…you were facing six teenagers, were you not?" **

There was a moment of collective shock around the room. Remus broke the silence, "Six teenagers took on the Death Eaters?"

Even Sirius looked mollified, "I guess so."

James grinned, "I bet Harry was one of them." He had no grounds for this, having no information on his son at all, but he had a feeling that it was possible. After all, if these books were about him, he had to lead a relatively interesting life, right?

"**They were joined, as you very well know, by half of the Order before long!" snarled Bellatrix. **

"Well, even if the ministry is incompetent, at least the Order is there."

"**And, while we are on the subject of the Order, you still claim you cannot reveal the whereabouts of their headquarters, don't you?" **

"**I am not the Secret-Keeper; I cannot speak the name of the place. You understand how the enchantment works, I think? The Dark Lord is satisfied with the information I have passed him on the Order. It led, as perhaps you have guessed, to the recent capture and murder of Emmeline Vance, and it certainly helped dispose of Sirius Black, though I give you full credit for finishing him off." **

**He inclined his head and toasted her. Her expression did not soften. **

"**You are avoiding my last question, Snape. Harry Potter. You could have killed him at any point in the past five years. You have not done it. Why?" **

"**Have you discussed this matter with the Dark Lord?" asked Snape. **

"**He…lately, we…I am asking you, Snape!" **

"Old Voldy didn't want to talk about it to my dear cousin."

"**If I had murdered Harry Potter, the Dark Lord could not have used his blood to regenerate, making him invincible —" **

"**You claim you foresaw his use of the boy!" she jeered. **

"**I do not claim it; I had no idea of his plans; I have already confessed that I thought the Dark Lord dead. I am merely trying to explain why the Dark Lord is not sorry that Potter survived, at least until a year ago…" **

"**But why did you keep him alive?" **

"**Have you not understood me? It was only Dumbledore's protection that was keeping me out of Azkaban! Do you disagree that murdering his favorite student might have turned him against me? **

Lily looked up from her ponderings at this. "Harry is Dumbledore's favorite student?"

James grinned. "I guess so."

**But there was more to it than that. I should remind you that when Potter first arrived at Hogwarts there were still many stories circulating about him, rumors that he himself was a great Dark wizard, which was how he had survived the Dark Lord's attack. Indeed, many of the Dark Lords old **

**followers thought Potter might be a standard around which we could all rally once more. I was curious, I admit it, and not at all inclined to murder him the moment he set foot in the castle. **

"**Of course, it became apparent to me very quickly that he had no extraordinary talent at all. He has fought his way out of a number of tight corners by a simple combination of sheer luck and more talented friends. He is mediocre to the last degree, though as obnoxious and self-satisfied as was his father before him. I have done my utmost to have him thrown out of Hogwarts, where I believe he scarcely belongs, but kill him, or allow him to be killed in front of me? I would have been a fool to risk it with Dumbledore close at hand." **

Four tempers flared at this.

James yelled, "you bloody bastard Snape!"

Remus growled.

Lily's eyes flashed and said darkly, "How dare you let his father's stupidity be a reason to hate him Severus. He is my bloody son too!"

Sirius let off a very violent list of thing he would like to do to Snivellus.

"**And through all this we are supposed to believe Dumbledore has never suspected you?" asked Bellatrix. "He has no idea of your true allegiance, he trusts you implicitly still?" **

"**I have played my part well," said Snape. "And you overlook Dumbledore's greatest weakness: He has to believe the best of people. I spun him a tale of deepest remorse when I joined his staff, fresh from my Death Eater days, and he embraced me with open arms — though, as I say, never allowing me nearer to the Dark Arts than he could help. Dumbledore has been a great wizard — oh yes, he has," (for Bellatrix had made a scathing noise), "the Dark Lord acknowledges it. I am pleased **

**to say, however, that Dumbledore is growing old. The duel with the Dark Lord last month shook him. He has since sustained a serious injury because his reactions are slower than they once were. But through all these years, he has never stopped trusting Severus Snape, and therein lies my great value to the Dark Lord." **

Remus pondered all this. "Severus Snape could influence the outcome of this war in his position. His actions, no matter were his loyalties lie, well be detrimental to one side, and invaluable to another. What he does could win or loose the war/"

Silence followed this. "Well," said James after a few moments, "let's hope he's on our side then.

**Bellatrix still looked unhappy, though she appeared unsure how best to attack Snape next. Taking advantage of her silence, Snape turned to her sister. **

"**Now…you came to ask me for help, Narcissa?" **

**Narcissa looked up at him, her face eloquent with despair. **

"**Yes, Severus. I — I think you are the only one who can help me, I have nowhere else to turn. Lucius is in jail and…" **

**She closed her eyes and two large tears seeped from beneath her eyelids. **

"**The Dark Lord has forbidden me to speak of it," Narcissa continued, her eyes still closed. "He wishes none to know of the plan. It is…very secret. But —" **

"**If he has forbidden it, you ought not to speak," said Snape at once. "The Dark Lord's word is law." **

**Narcissa gasped as though he had doused her with cold water. Bellatrix looked satisfied for the first time since she had entered the house. **

"**There!" she said triumphantly to her sister. "Even Snape says so: You were told not to talk, so hold your silence!" **

**But Snape had gotten to his feet and strode to the small window, peered through the curtains at the deserted street, then closed them again with a jerk. He turned around to face Narcissa, frowning. **

"**It so happens that I know of the plan," he said in a low voice. "I am one of the few the Dark Lord has told. Nevertheless, had I not been in on the secret, Narcissa, you would have been guilty of great treachery to the Dark Lord." **

"**I thought you must know about it!" said Narcissa, breathing more freely. "He trusts you so, Severus…" **

"That's frightening."

"**You know about the plan?" said Bellatrix, her fleeting expression of satisfaction replaced by a look of outrage. "You know?" **

"**Certainly," said Snape. "But what help do you require, Narcissa? If you are imagining I can persuade the Dark Lord to change his mind, I am afraid there is no hope, none at all." **

"**Severus," she whispered, tears sliding down her pale cheeks. "My son…my only son…" **

Lily smiled sadly. She figured it had to be something like this. The lengths a mother would go to protect her children are remarkable.

"**Draco should be proud," said Bellatrix indifferently. "The Dark Lord is granting him a great honor. And I will say this for Draco: I can see he isn't shrinking away from his duty, he seems glad of a chance to prove himself, excited at the prospect —" **

**Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape. **

"**That's because he is sixteen and has no idea what lies in store! Why, Severus? Why my son? It is too dangerous! This is vengeance for Lucius's mistake, I know it!" **

**Snape said nothing. He looked away from the sight of her tears as though they were indecent, but he could not pretend not to hear her. **

"**That's why he's chosen Draco, isn't it?" she persisted. "To punish Lucius?" **

"**If Draco succeeds," said Snape, still looking away from her, "he will be honored above all others." **

"**But he won't succeed!" sobbed Narcissa. "How can he, when the Dark Lord himself —?" **

**Bellatrix gasped; Narcissa seemed to lose her nerve. **

"**I only meant…that nobody has yet succeeded…**

"Sounds like a tricky job."

**Severus…please…You are, you have always been, Draco's favorite teacher…You are Lucius's old friend…I beg you…You are the Dark Lord's favorite, his most trusted advisor…Will you speak to him, persuade him —?" **

"**The Dark Lord will not be persuaded, and I am not stupid enough to attempt it," said Snape flatly. "I cannot pretend that the Dark Lord is not angry with Lucius. Lucius was supposed to be in charge. He got himself captured, along with how many others, and failed to retrieve the prophecy into the bargain. Yes, the Dark Lord is angry, Narcissa, very angry indeed." **

"**Then I am right, he has chosen Draco in revenge!" choked Narcissa. "He does not mean him to succeed, he wants him to be killed trying!" **

Sirius grimaced. "That's sick," he muttered. He had no great love for his cousin, but this was terrible. Nobody deserved to have to watch their son die.

**When Snape said nothing, Narcissa seemed to lose what little self-restraint she still possessed. Standing up, she staggered to Snape and seized the front of his robes. Her face close to his, her tears falling onto his chest, she gasped, "You could do it. You could do it instead of Draco, Severus. You would succeed, of course you would, and he would reward you beyond all of us -" **

**Snape caught hold of her wrists and removed her clutching hands. Looking down into her tearstained face, he said slowly, "He intends me to do it in the end, I think. But he is determined that Draco should try first. You see, in the unlikely event that Draco succeeds, I shall be able to remain at Hogwarts a little longer, fulfilling my useful role as spy." **

"**In other words, it doesn't matter to him if Draco is killed!" **

"Of course not," spat Lily bitterly, "what is the life of one teenager for the greater good?"

"**The Dark Lord is very angry," repeated Snape quietly. "He failed to hear the prophecy. You know as well as I do, Narcissa, that he does not forgive easily." **

**She crumpled, falling at his feet, sobbing and moaning on the floor. **

"**My only son…my only son…" **

Sirius cringed at that. Narcissa was a very proud woman. To loose control like that, to beg on her knees… it was not right.

"**You should be proud!" said Bellatrix ruthlessly. "If I had sons, I would be glad to give them up to the service of the Dark Lord!" **

"Thankfully, she has no sons."

**Narcissa gave a little scream of despair and clutched at her long blonde hair. Snape stooped, seized her by the arms, lifted her up, and steered her back onto the sofa. He then poured her more wine and forced the glass into her hand. **

"**Narcissa, that's enough. Drink this. Listen to me." **

**She quieted a little; slopping wine down herself, she took a shaky sip. **

"**It might be possible…for me to help Draco." **

**She sat up, her face paper-white, her eyes huge. **

"**Severus — oh, Severus — you would help him? Would you look after him, see he comes to no harm?" **

"**I can try." **

**She flung away her glass; it skidded across the table as she slid off the sofa into a kneeling position at Snape's feet, seized his hand in both of hers, and pressed her lips to it. **

"**If you are there to protect him…Severus, will you swear it? Will you make the Unbreakable Vow?" **

"**The Unbreakable Vow?" **

**Snape's expression was blank, unreadable. Bellatrix, however, let out a cackle of triumphant laughter. **

"**Aren't you listening, Narcissa? Oh, he'll try, I'm sure…The usual empty words, the usual slithering out of action…oh, on the Dark Lord's orders, of course!" **

**Snape did not look at Bellatrix. His black eyes were fixed upon Narcissa's tear-filled blue ones as she continued to clutch his hand. **

"**Certainly, Narcissa, I shall make the Unbreakable Vow," **

"A double agent with an unbreakable vow. Now that is a difficult place to be." Observed Remus.

**he said quietly. "Perhaps your sister will consent to be our Bonder." **

**Bellatrix's mouth fell open. Snape lowered himself so that he was kneeling opposite Narcissa. Beneath Bellatrix's astonished gaze, they grasped right hands. **

"**You will need your wand, Bellatrix," said Snape coldly. **

**She drew it, still looking astonished. **

"**And you will need to move a little closer," he said. **

**She stepped forward so that she stood over them, and placed the tip of her wand on their linked hands. **

**Narcissa spoke. **

"**Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he attempts to fulfill the Dark Lord's wishes?" **

"**I will," said Snape. **

**A thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from the wand and wound its way around their hands like a red-hot wire. **

"**And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?" **

"**I will," said Snape. **

**A second tongue of flame shot from the wand and interlinked with the first, making a fine, glowing chain. **

"**And, should it prove necessary…if it seems Draco will fail…" whispered Narcissa (Snape's hand twitched within hers, but he did not draw away), "will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?" **

**There was a moment's silence. Bellatrix watched, her wand upon their clasped hands, her eyes wide. **

"**I will," said Snape. **

**Bellatrix's astounded face glowed red in the blaze of a third unique flame, which shot from the wand, twisted with the others, and bound itself thickly around their clasped hands, like a fiery snake.**

"And that was the end of the last chapter", concluded Sirius. "Who wants to read next?"

"I will," said James, taking the book from Sirius. He was still hoping to find a clue that would tell them why they were given this book, and what it had to do with them all.


	4. Chapter Three: Will and Won't

James turned the page and began to read;

**CHAPTER THREE **

**WILL AND WON'T **

"What does that mean?" asked Sirius.

"Dunno. But if you let me read we just may find out."

"Hmpf"

**Harry Potter was snoring loudly.**

"So there is a possibility that he is related to James."

"Shut up Padfoot."

"Just telling it like it is Prongs."

**He had been sitting in a chair beside his bedroom window for the best part of four hours, staring out at the darkening street, and had finally fallen asleep with one side of his face pressed against the cold windowpane, his glasses askew and his mouth wide open. **

**The misty fog his breath had left on the window sparkled in the orange glare of the streetlamp outside, and the artificial light drained his face of all color, so that he looked ghostly beneath his shock of untidy black hair. **

Lily looked at her husband ponderously. Black hair was standing up at all ends on his head. Maybe this _could _be their son. It was a book from the future after all.

**The room was strewn with various possessions and a good smattering of rubbish. Owl feathers, apple cores, and sweet wrappers littered the floor, a number of spellbooks lay higgledy-piggledy **

At this James stopped reading and turned to the others. _"_Higgledy –Piggledy?"he repeated incredulously, "seriously?"

**among the tangled robes on his bed, and a mess of newspapers sat in a puddle of light on his desk. The headline of one blared: **

_**HARRY POTTER: THE CHOSEN ONE? **_

"Chosen for what?"

_**Rumors continue to fly about the mysterious recent disturbance at the Ministry of Magic, during which He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was sighted once more.**_

"The same He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or a different one?" questioned Lily hesitantly. The other three shuddered at the thought of Voldemort's reign of terror lasting so long.

"_**We're not allowed to talk about it, don't ask me anything" said one agitated Obliviator, who refused to give his name as he left the Ministry last night. **_

_**Nevertheless, highly placed sources within the Ministry have confirmed that the disturbance centered on the fabled Hall of Prophecy. **_

"What would Voldemort want in the Hall of Prophecy?" wondered Remus.

_**Though Ministry spokeswizards have hitherto refused even to confirm the existence of such a place, a growing number of the Wizarding community believe that the Death Eaters now serving sentences in Azkaban for trespass and attempted theft were attempting to steal a prophecy. The nature of that prophecy is unknown, although speculation is rife that it concerns Harry Potter, the only person ever known to have survived the Killing Curse, **_

"Survived the _killing curse_?!"

"Well," began Remus, "at least we know why he has a book series about his life."

Lily didn't answer. If this boy was indeed her son, then what had happened to her and James?

_**and who is also known to have been at the Ministry on the night in question. Some are going so far as to call Potter "the Chosen One," believing that the prophecy names him as the only one who will be able to rid us of He-Who-Must-No t-Be-Named. **_

Again, there was silence.

"No pressure of anything though Harry," quipped Sirius with a feeble attempt at humor.

_**The current whereabouts of the prophecy, if it exists, are unknown, although {ctd. page2, column 5) **_

**A second newspaper lay besides the first. This one bore the headline: **

_**SCRIMGEOUR SUCCEEDS FUDGE**_

**Most of this front page was taken up with a large black-and-white picture of a man with a lion-like mane of thick hair and a rather ravaged face.**

"Yep," chuckled James, "that's our Professor."

**The picture was moving — the man was waving at the ceiling.**

_**Rufus Scrimgeour, previously Head of the Auror office in the Department of Magical Law **_

_**Enforcement, has succeeded Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic. The appointment has largely been greeted with enthusiasm by the Wizarding community, though rumors of a rift between the new Minister and Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, surfaced within hours of Scrimgeour taking office. **_

_**Scrimgeours representatives admitted that he had met with Dumbledore at once upon taking possession of the top job, but refused to comment on the topics under discussion. Albus Dumbledore is known to (ctd. page 3, column 2) **_

**To the left of this paper sat another, which had been folded so that a story bearing the title **

**ministry guarantees students' safety was visible. **

_**Newly appointed Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, spoke today of the tough new measures taken by his Ministry to ensure the safety of students returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this autumn. **_

"_**For obvious reasons, the Ministry will not be going into detail about its stringent new security plans," said the Minister, although an insider confirmed that measures include defensive spells and charms, a complex array of countercurses, and a small task force of Aurors dedicated solely to the protection of Hogwarts School. **__**Most seem reassured by the new Minister's tough stand on student safety. Said Mrs. Augusta Longbottom, "My grandson, Neville — a good friend of Harry Potter's, incidentally, who fought the Death Eaters alongside him at the Ministry in June and — **_

They all looked at each other.

"Students are fighting Death Eaters at the Ministry?" James repeated

"This must be worse than our time." Observed Sirius

After they had all pondered that, Lily had another thought.

"My friend Alice just married a Longbottom! Don't you remember James, we went to their wedding last month!"

James grinned. "Yeah, I remember. Frank is auror. He helps with our classes sometimes. He's a nice guy."

But Remus had another thought, "Why is it is his Grandmother that is talking to the Prophet, not his parents?"

Lily bit her lip in worry for her former roommate and friend, and the other three's expressions grew grim.

**But the rest of this story was obscured by the large birdcage, standing on top of it. Inside it was a magnificent snowy owl. Her amber eyes surveyed the room imperiously, her head swiveling occasionally to gaze at her snoring master. Once or twice she clicked her beak impatiently, but Harry was too deeply asleep to hear her. **

**A large trunk stood in the very middle of the room. Its lid was open; it looked expectant; yet it was almost empty but for a residue of old underwear, sweets, empty ink bottles, and broken quills that coated the very bottom. Nearby, on the floor, lay a purple leaflet emblazoned with the words: **

— — _**ISSUED ON BEHALF OF — — **_

_**The Ministry of Magic **_

_**PROTECTING YOUR HOME AND FAMILY AGAINST DARK FORCES **_

_**The Wizarding community is currently under threat from an organization calling itself the**_

_**Death Eaters. Observing the following simple security guidelines will help protect you, your family, and your home from attack;**_

_**1. You are advised not to leave the house alone. **_

_**2. Particular care should be taken during the hours of darkness. Wherever possible, **_

_**arrange to complete journeys before night has fallen. **_

_**3. Review the security arrangements around your house, making sure that all family **_

_**members are aware of emergency measures such as Shield and Disillusionment Charms, **_

_**and, in the case of underage family members, Side-Along-Apparition. **_

_**4. Agree on security questions with close friends and family so as to detect Death Eaters masquerading as others by use of the Polyjuice Potion (see page 2). **_

_**5. Should you feel that a family member, colleague, friend, or neighbor is acting in a strange manner, contact the Magical Law Enforcement Squad at once. They may have been put under the Imperius Curse (see page 4). **_

_**6. Should the Dark Mark appear over any dwelling place or other building, DO NOT ENTER, but contact the Auror office immediately. **_

_**7. Unconfirmed sightings suggest that the Death Eaters may now be using Inferi (see page 10). Any sighting of an Inferius, or encounter with same, should be reported to the Ministry IMMEDIATELY. **_

**Harry grunted in his sleep and his face slid down the window an inch or so, making his glasses still more lopsided, but he did not wake up. An alarm clock, repaired by Harry several years ago, ticked loudly on the sill, showing one minute to eleven. Beside it, held in place by Harry's relaxed hand, was a piece of parchment covered in thin, slanting writing. Harry had read this letter so often since its arrival three days ago that although it had been delivered in a tightly furled scroll, it now lay quite flat. **

_**Dear Harry, **_

_**If it is convenient to you, I shall call at number four, Privet Drive**_

"That address sounds familiar," mused Lily.

_**this coming Friday at eleven p.m.**__**to escort you to the Burrow, where you have been invited to spend the remainder of your school holidays. If you are agreeable, I should also be glad of your assistance in a matter to which I hope to attend on the way to the Burrow. I shall explain this more fully when I see you. **_

_**Kindly send your answer by return of this owl. Hoping to see you this Friday, **_

_**I am yours most sincerely, **_

_**Albus Dumbledore **_

They all stopped at that one.

"Dumbledore is coming to pick up Harry?"

"Dumbledore needs Harry's help?!"

**Though he already knew it by heart, Harry had been stealing glances at this missive every few minutes since seven o'clock that evening, when he had first taken up his position beside **

**his bedroom window, which had a reasonable view of both ends of Privet Drive. He knew it was pointless to keep rereading Dumbledore's words; Harry had sent back his **_** "yes" **_** with the delivering owl, as requested, and all he could do now was wait: Either Dumbledore was going to come, or he was not. **

**But Harry had not packed. It just seemed too good to be true that he was going to be rescued from the Dursleys **

James dropped the book. He turned to look at Lily, his face white. "Dursleys," he repeated, quietly.

Lily's face bore a similar expression. "Petunia," she said softly. She had not spoken to her sister in nearly two years. Petunia had moved out with her horrid fiancé, Veron, a few days before Lily returned to Hogwarts after Christmas break of her sixth year. Lily had tried, over and over again to mend the riff between them, but when her sister had refused to come to her wedding, it was the final straw. She had given up all hope of ever being close to her sister again. She had broken down into tears when their wedding invitation had been returned, unopen. James, on the other hand, hated the Dursleys more than just about anyone else in the world. Save perhaps Voldemort. He had been seething with angry as he had comforted Lily after the invitation fiasco. Families had no right to do that to one and other. Since their parents had died 2 years ago, Petunia and Lily were all that each other had. There was no right to abandon your sister like that. Plus, the fact that Lily rarely ever succumbed to tears made him loathe anyone who was horrible to actually cause that. So if this Harry with hair like his and the same last name lived with the Dursleys… James ignored that thought, picked up the book, found the right page, and continued reading.

**after a mere fortnight of their company. He could not shrug off the feeling that something was going to go wrong — his reply to Dumbledore's letter might have gone astray; Dumbledore could be prevented from collecting him; the letter might turn out not to be from Dumbledore at all, but a trick or joke or trap. Harry had not been able to face packing and then being let down and having to unpack again. **

Remus grinned. "Sounds like a bit of a pessimist."

**The only gesture he had made to the possibility of a journey was to shut his snowy owl, Hedwig, safely in her cage. **

**The minute hand on the alarm clock reached the number twelve and, at that precise moment, the street-lamp outside the window went out. **

**Harry awoke as though the sudden darkness were an alarm. Hastily straightening his glasses and unsticking his cheek from the glass, he pressed his nose against the window instead and squinted down at the pavement. A tall figure in a long, billowing cloak was walking up the garden path. Harry jumped up as though he had received an electric shock, knocked over his chair, and started snatching anything and everything within reach from the floor and throwing it into the trunk. Then as he lobbed a set of robes, two spellbooks, and a packet of clasps across the room, the doorbell rang. Downstairs in the living room his Uncle Vernon **

Lily cringed. Well, that confirmed it. James was thinking the same thing, and praying to Merlin that his fears were unfounded.

**shouted, "Who the blazes is calling at this time of night?" **

**Harry froze with a brass telescope in one hand and a pair of trainers in the other. He had **

**completely forgotten to warn the Dursleys that Dumbledore might be coming. Feeling both panicky and close to laughter, he clambered over the trunk and wrenched open his bedroom door in time to hear a deep voice say, "Good evening. You must be Mr. Dursley. I daresay Harry has told you I would be coming for him?" **

**Harry ran down the stairs two at a time, coming to an abrupt halt several steps from the bottom, as long experience had taught him to remain out of arm's reach of his uncle whenever possible. **

Lily's eyes flashed. "Why would he have been taught that after long experience," she questioned darkly. If this really was her son, Petunia would be paying dearly for this.

**There in the doorway stood a tall, thin man with waist-length silver hair and beard. Half-moon spectacles were perched on his crooked nose, and he was wearing a long black traveling cloak and a pointed hat. Vernon Dursley, whose mustache was quite as bushy as Dumbledore's, though b lack, and who was wearing a puce **

Sirius shuddered, "why would anyone _willingly_ wear puce?"

Remus gave him a quizzical look, "why do you know what color puce is?"

Sirius did not answer, lapsing into what he apparently considered to be a dignified silence.

**dressing gown, was staring at the visitor as though he could not believe his tiny eyes. **

"**Judging by your look of stunned disbelief, Harry did not warn you that I was coming," said Dumbledore pleasantly. "However, let us assume that you have invited me warmly into your house. It is unwise to linger overlong on doorsteps in these troubled times." **

**He stepped smartly over the threshold and closed the front door behind him. **

"**It is a long time since my last visit," said Dumbledore, peering down his crooked nose at Uncle Vernon. "I must say, your agapanthus are flourishing." **

**Vernon Dursley said nothing at all. Harry did not doubt that speech would return to him, and soon — the vein pulsing in his uncle's temple was reaching danger point — but something about Dumbledore seemed to have robbed him temporarily of breath. It might have been the blatant wizardishness of his appearance, but it might, too, have been that even Uncle Vernon could sense that here was a man whom it would be very difficult to bully. **

"**Ah, good evening Harry," said Dumbledore, looking up at him through his half-moon glasses with a most satisfied expression. "Excellent, excellent." **

**These words seemed to rouse Uncle Vernon. It was clear that as far as he was concerned, any man who could look at Harry and say "excellent" was a man with whom he could never see eye to eye. **

There were three dark looks and one growl at this.

"**I don't mean to be rude —" he began, in a tone that threatened rudeness in every syllable. **

"— **yet, sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often," Dumbledore finished the sentence gravely. **

Sirius cackled. "Ya gotta love Dumby's style."

"Dumby?" repeated Remus, raising an eyebrow.

"**Best to say nothing at all, my dear man. Ah, and this must be Petunia." **

**The kitchen door had opened, and there stood Harry's aunt, wearing rubber gloves and a **

**housecoat over her nightdress, clearly halfway through her usual pre-bedtime wipe-down of all the kitchen surfaces. Her rather horsey face registered nothing but shock. **

"**Albus Dumbledore," said Dumbledore, when Uncle Vernon failed to effect an introduction. **

"**We have corresponded, of course." Harry thought this an odd way of reminding Aunt Petunia that he had once sent her an exploding letter, but Aunt Petunia did not challenge the term. "And this must be your son, Dudley?" **

**Dudley had that moment peered round the living room door, his large, blond head rising out of the stripy collar of his pajamas looked oddly disembodied, his mouth gaping in astonishment and fear. Dumbledore waited a moment or two, apparently to see whether any of the Dursleys were going to say anything, but as the silence stretched on he smiled. **

"**Shall we assume that you have invited me into your sitting room?"**

**Dudley scrambled out of the way as Dumbledore passed him. Harry, still clutching the telescope and trainers, jumped the last few stairs and followed Dumbledore, who had settled himself in the armchair nearest the fire and was taking in the surroundings with an expression of benign interest. **

**He looked quite extraordinarily out of place. **

"**Aren't — aren't we leaving, sir?" Harry asked anxiously. **

"**Yes, indeed we are, but there are a few matters we need to discuss first," said Dumbledore. "And I would prefer not to do so in the open. We shall trespass upon your aunt and uncle's hospitality only a little longer." **

"**You will, will you?" **

**Vernon Dursley had entered the room, Petunia at his shoulder, and Dudley skulking behind them both. **

"**Yes," said Dumbledore simply, "I shall." **

**He drew his wand so rapidly that Harry barely saw it; with a casual flick, the sofa zoomed **

**forward and knocked the knees out from under all three of the Dursleys so that they collapsed upon it in a heap. Another flick of the wand and the sofa zoomed back to its original position. **

They all roared with laughter at the image of this.

"**We may as well be comfortable," said Dumbledore pleasantly. **

**As he replaced his wand in his pocket, Harry saw that his hand was blackened and shriveled; it looked as though his flesh had been burned away. **

Remus looked intrigued at this. "Wonder what happened there?"

"**Sir — what happened to your —?" **

"**Later, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Please sit down." **

**Harry took the remaining armchair, choosing not to look at the Dursleys, who seemed stunned into silence. **

"**I would assume that you were going to offer me refreshment," Dumbledore said to Uncle **

**Vernon, "but the evidence so far suggests that that would be optimistic to the point of foolishness." **

**A third twitch of the wand, and a dusty bottle and five glasses appeared in midair. The bottle tipped and poured a generous measure of honey-colored liquid into each of the glasses, which then floated to each person in the room. **

"**Madam Rosmerta's finest oak-matured mead," said Dumbledore, raising his glass to Harry, who caught hold of his own and sipped. He had never tasted anything like it before, but enjoyed it immensely. The Dursleys, after quick, scared looks at one another, tried to ignore their glasses completely, a difficult feat, as they were nudging them gently on the sides of their heads. Harry could not suppress a suspicion that Dumbledore was rather enjoying himself. **

Lily grinned. "I'm sure he was."

"**Well, Harry," said Dumbledore, turning toward him, "a difficulty has arisen which I hope you will be able to solve for us. By us, I mean the Order of the Phoenix. But first of all I must tell you that Sirius' will was discovered a week ago, and that he left you everything he owned." **

They all sobered at the reminder of the death of one of there own. Lily smiled slightly, "You left him every thing you owned. You must have been close to him."

"I guess so," replied Sirius, brightening up so much. At least he knew that he would have somebody to love at the end of his life, seeing as he didn't know the fate of the other mauraders yet.

**Over on the sofa, Uncle Vernons head turned, but Harry did not look at him, nor could he **

**think of anything to say except, "Oh. Right." **

Remus grinned, "he seems to be very loquacious." Lily giggled and the other two had blank looks.

"**This is, in the main, fairly straightforward," Dumbledore went on. "You add a reasonable **

**amount of gold to your account at gringotts, and you inherit all of Sirius's personal possessions. The slightly problematic part of the legacy —" **

"**His godfather's dead?" **

"You're a godfather Pads!" exclaimed James, "That means that Harry must be our son Lils, no one else would be thick enough to make this prat godfather to their child."

The other three grinned in amusement and agreement.

**said Uncle Vernon loudly from the sofa. Dumbledore and Harry both turned to look at him. The glass of mead was now knocking quite insistently on the side of Vernon's head; he attempted to beat it away. "He's dead? His godfather?" **

"**Yes," said Dumbledore. He did not ask Harry why he had not confided in the Dursleys. **

Lily frowned at that. "That is horrible." To the questioning looks of the other she elaborated, "to not have enough of a relationship with your own family that when someone you are very close to dies, you don't even tell them."

The other three looked saddened and assented.

"**Our problem," he continued to Harry, as if there had been no interruption, "is that Sirius also left you number twelve, Grimmauld Place." **

"Please tell me he's joking."

"**He's been left a house?" said Uncle Vernon greedily, his small eyes narrowing, but nobody answered him. **

"**You can keep using it as headquarters," said Harry. "I don't care. You can have it, I don't really want it." Harry never wanted to set foot in number twelve, Grimmauld Place again if he could help it. He thought he would be haunted forever by the memory of Sirius prowling its dark musty rooms alone, imprisoned within the place he had wanted so desperately to leave. **

Remus, Lily, and James all looked at Sirius cautiously. They all knew how much he hated his childhood home. To be stuck there again would be little short of torture to him.

Sirius, on the other hand, was silently pondering the matter. Suddenly, he grinned. The other three looked at him strangley, until Remus broke the silence.

"Um, Padfoot…"

Sirius turned to look at him, huge grin still in place.

"Can you imagine the look on my mother's face if she knew that her house had been turned into the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix? Protectors of 'mudbloods and traitors'? She would HATE it. The shock of it just might kill her. Too bad she's already dead," he mused.

For a moment there was silence. Then James broke it by laughing loudly. He was followed by Remus and Lily. After they had all laughed until tears had begun to run down their faces, James continued to read.

"**That is generous," said Dumbledore. "We have, however, vacated the building temporarily." **

"Why?"

"**Why?" **

"Hmph."

"**Well," said Dumbledore, ignoring the mutterings of Uncle Vernon, who was now being rapped smartly over the head by the persistent glass of mead, "Black family tradition decreed that the house was handed down the direct line, to the next male with the name of 'Black.' Sirius was the very last of the line as **

James paused for a moment and silently read ahead. He cringed at the next line, and looked hesitantly at Sirius. He knew first hand that while Sirius may not show it often, he loved his brother. He would do anything to protect him and would be devastated if anything happened to him.

Sirius caught him looking at him. Upon reading James' face, his own expression darkened.

"What now?" he asked warily. He didn't think he'd be able to take much more bad news. James gave him a sympathetic grimace and continued to read.

**his younger brother, Regulus, predeceased him **

James paused here to allow Sirius to react to his brother's death. The other two were now also staring at Sirius. They all sat quietly, waiting for his reaction so they would know how to proceed.

For a few moments, Sirius merely sat quietly, staring at the book that had given him yet another piece of bad news. Then anger started to boil up inside of him. His brother, his baby brother, dead? And the stupid book didn't even have the decency to tell him how? He wanted to rip the book to shread and then throw the pulp into the fire burning besides him. _No Sirius, _chided that logical voice inside of his head, _that would not be wise. If you destroy the book, then you will not be able to learn what happens in the future. _Sirius cursed to himself. Stupid little logical voice. However, the voice was right. Destroying the book would gain him nothing. With that his anger rapidly changed to regret. Reg had _predeceased_ him. When did this place that in the current timeline? Had it already happened, or would it happen tomorrow? Why hadn't he kept a closer eye on him? He might have been able to prevent it, whatever _it_ was. Then the regret turned to grief. Badly suppressed tears began to run down his face. He had loved his brother, but had Reg known this? Or had he died believing that his only brother hated his guts for his ideals, which had been drilled into him by their parents from a very young age? Thoughts such as these continued to fly through his head. The other three had been watching him hesitantly. They had watched his expressions change as he processed the news. Now, they watched in silence as he silently wept for his brother. Lily got up from her spot next to James and walked over to where Sirius sat on the floor next to the armchair. She knelt down next to him and gave him a gentle hug.

"I'm so sorry Sirius." She said to him softly as she withdrew. Sirius gave he a small smile in thanks. He seemed to want to say something, but settled on, "Shall we continue then?"

James obliged.

**and both were childless. While his will makes it perfectly plain that he wants you to have the house, it is nevertheless possible that some spell or enchantment has been set upon the place to ensure that it cannot be owned by anyone other than a pureblood." **

**A vivid image of the shrieking, spitting portrait of Sirius's mother that hung in the hall of **

**number twelve, Grimmauld Place flashed into Harry's mind.**

Sirius and James shuttered at that. Mrs. Black was not a pleasant woman.

"**I bet there has," he said. **

"**Quite," said Dumbledore. "And if such an enchantment exists, then the ownership of the house is most likely to pass to the eldest of Sirius's living relatives, which would mean his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange." **

**Without realizing what he was doing, Harry sprang to his feet; the telescope and trainers in his lap rolled across the floor. Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius's killer, inherit his house? **

A shocked silence settled over the sitting room of the cozy cottage in Godric's Hallow. It was broken by Remus.

"That bitch," he growled.

James looked livid. "Well," he spat bitterly, "we already knew she was unhinged, but to murder your own cousin…"

Sirius grimaced. "James, my family is not a normal family. My cousins have no love for me, nor I of them. I would love to do Bella in if I had the chance. She is wicked crazy, and insanely powerful. Not to mention _completely _in love with Voldemort. That is not someone you want on his team."

James grimaced in response, but said nothing, knowing that it was true.

Lily's eyes blazed with fury, but she said nothing.

"**No," he said. **

"**Well, obviously we would prefer that she didn't get it either," said Dumbledore calmly. "The situation is fraught with complications. We do not know whether the enchantments we ourselves have placed upon it, for example, making it Unplottable, will hold now that ownership has passed from Sirius's hands. It might be that Bellatrix will arrive on the doorstep at any moment. Naturally we had to move out until such time as we have clarified the position." **

"**But how are you going to find out if I'm allowed to own it?" **

"**Fortunately," said Dumbledore, "there is a simple test." **

**He placed his empty glass on a small table beside his chair, but before he could do anything else, Uncle Vernon shouted, "Will you get these ruddy things off us?" **

**Harry looked around; all three of the Dursleys were cowering with their arms over their heads as their glasses bounced up and down on their skulls, their contents flying everywhere. **

"**Oh, I'm so sorry," said Dumbledore politely, and he raised his wand again. All three glasses vanished.**

"Oh c'mon Dumby, you should have left them," quipped Sirius with a stab at normalcy.

"I repeat, Dumby?" replies James, with a similar aim.

"Can it Prongs. I will call him Dumby is I want to."

"**But it would have been better manners to drink it, you know." **

**It looked as though Uncle Vernon was bursting with any number of unpleasant retorts, but he merely shrank back into the cushions with Aunt Petunia and Dudley and said nothing, keeping his small piggy eyes on Dumbledore's wand. **

"**You see," Dumbledore said, turning back to Harry and again speaking as though Uncle Vernon had not uttered, "if you have indeed inherited the house, you have also inherited-" **

**He flicked his wand for a fifth time. There was a loud crack, and a house-elf appeared, with a snout for a nose, giant bat's ears, and enormous bloodshot eyes, crouching on the Dursleys' shag carpet and covered in grimy rags.**

"Bloody hell," moaned Sirius, "Harry is gonna get stuck with _Kreacher_."

There was a collective shudder amongst the mauraders, and Lily didn't ask for clarification. She figured that it would be explained soon.

**Aunt Petunia let out a hair-raising shriek; nothing this filthy had entered her house in living memory. Dudley drew his large, bare, pink feet off the floor and sat with them raised almost above his head, as though he thought the creature might run up his pajama trousers, and Uncle Vernon bellowed, **

"**What the hell is that?" **

"**Kreacher," finished Dumbledore. **

"**Kreacher won't, Kreacher won't, Kreacher won't!" croaked the house-elf, quite as loudly as Uncle Vernon, stamping his long, gnarled feet and pulling his ears. "Kreacher belongs to Miss Bellatrix, **

"She can have him."

**oh yes, Kreacher belongs to the Blacks, Kreacher wants his new mistress, Kreacher won't go to the Potter brat, Kreacher won't, won't, won't —" **

"**As you can see, Harry," said Dumbledore loudly, over Kreacher's continued croaks of "wont, won't, won't," "Kreacher is showing a certain reluctance to pass into your ownership." **

"You don't say," Remus commented dryly.

"**I don't care," said Harry again, looking with disgust at the writhing, stamping house-elf. "I don't want him." **

"**Won't, won't, won't, won't —" **

"**You would prefer him to pass into the ownership of Bellatrix Lestrange? Bearing in mind that he has lived at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix for the past year?" **

"**Won't, won't, won't, won't —" **

**Harry stared at Dumbledore. He knew that Kreacher could not be permitted to go and live with Bellatrix Lestrange, but the idea of owning him, of having responsibility for the creature that had betrayed Sirius, was repugnant. **

There was silence at this. James was the first to speak.

"Betrayed Sirius," he said dangerously, "so you are dead and Harry is grieving for you because of Kreacher?!"

Sirius looked flabbergasted, "I guess so," he replied.

Remus and Lily looked at each other, but decided that all that needed to be said had been said.

"**Give him an order," said Dumbledore. "If he has passed into your ownership, he will have to obey. If not, then we shall have to think of some other means of keeping him from his rightful mistress." **

"**Won't, won't, won't, WON'T!" **

**Kreacher's voice had risen to a scream. Harry could think of nothing to say, except, "Kreacher, shut up!" **

**It looked for a moment as though Kreacher was going to choke. **

"Wish he would."

**He grabbed his throat, his **

**mouth still working furiously, his eyes bulging. After a few seconds of frantic gulping, he threw himself face forward onto the carpet (Aunt Petunia whimpered) **

"Serves her right," muttered Lily.

**and beat the floor with his hands and feet, giving himself over to a violent, but entirely silent, tantrum. **

"**Well, that simplifies matters," said Dumbledore cheerfully. "It means that Sirius knew what he was doing. **

"Well, it's bound to happen from time to time."

"Hey!"

**You are the rightful owner of number twelve, Grimmauld Place and of Kreacher." **

"**Do I — do I have to keep him with me?" Harry asked, aghast, us Kreacher thrashed around at his feet. **

"**Not if you don't want to," said Dumbledore. "If I might make a suggestion, you could send him to Hogwarts to work in the kitchen there. In that way, the other house-elves could keep an eye on him." **

"**Yeah," said Harry in relief, "yeah, I'll do that. Er — Kreacher — I want you to go to Hogwarts and work in the kitchens there with the other house-elves." **

**Kreacher, who was now lying flat on his back with his arms and legs in the air, gave Harry one upside-down look of deepest loathing and, with another loud crack, vanished. **

"**Good," said Dumbledore. "There is also the matter of the hippogriff, Buckbeak. **

"Hippogriff?"

"Cool!"

Lily just smiled at that. Sirius _would _end up with a hippogriff.

**Hagrid has been looking after him since Sirius died, but Buckbeak is yours now, so if you would prefer to make different arrangements —" **

"**No," said Harry at once, "he can stay with Hagrid. I think Buckbeak would prefer that." **

"**Hagrid will be delighted," said Dumbledore, smiling. "He was thrilled to see Buckbeak again. **

**Incidentally, we have decided, in the interests of Buckbeak's safety, to rechristen him 'Witherwings' for the time being, though I doubt that the Ministry would ever guess he is the hippogriff they once sentenced to death. **

Remus chuckled at that.

"So are a fugitive on the run with an ex-con hippogiff. Sounds like you had an exciting few years."

Sirius gave him a small smile.

"I guess so."

**Now, Harry, is your trunk packed?" **

"**Erm…" **

"**Doubtful that I would turn up?" Dumbledore suggested shrewdly. **

"**I'll just go and — er — finish off," said Harry hastily, hurrying to pick up his fallen telescope and trainers. **

**It took him a little over ten minutes to track down everything he needed; at last he had managed to extract his Invisibility Cloak from under the bed, screwed the top back on his jar of color-change ink, and forced the lid of his trunk shut on his cauldron. Then, heaving his trunk in one hand and holding Hedwig's cage in the other, he made his way back downstairs. He was disappointed to discover that Dumbledore was not waiting in the hall, which meant that he had to return to the living room. **

**Nobody was talking. Dumbledore was humming quietly, apparently quite at his ease, **

They all chuckled at this.

**but the atmosphere was thicker than cold custard, and Harry did not dare look at the Dursleys as he said, **

"**Professor — I'm ready now." **

"**Good," said Dumbledore. "Just one last thing, then." And he turned to speak to the Dursleys once more. **

"**As you will no doubt be aware, Harry comes of age in a year's time —" **

"**No," said Aunt Petunia, speaking for the first time since Dumbledore's arrival. **

"**I'm sorry?" said Dumbledore politely. **

"**No, he doesn't. He's a month younger than Dudley, **

"Well at least she knows when his birthday is," Lily pointed out hopefully.

**and Dudders doesn't turn eighteen until the year after next." **

"**Ah," said Dumbledore pleasantly, "but in the Wizarding world, we come of age at seventeen." **

Lily scoffed. "She knows that."

**Uncle Vernon muttered, "Preposterous," but Dumbledore ignored him, **

"**Now, as you already know, the wizard called Lord Voldemort has returned to this country. The Wizarding community is currently in a state of open warfare. Harry, whom Lord Voldemort has already attempted to kill on a number of occasions, **

This revelation was greeted by silence, which was broken by Remus. "Er, why?" They all shrugged in response.

**is in even greater danger now than the day when I left him upon your doorstep fifteen years ago, with a letter explaining about his parents' murder**

There was complete silence in the room as James paused at this. Yet nobody commented. Nobody wanted to bring up what they were all thinking until it was absolutely necessary. Until then, they would fool themselves into thinking that the obvious truth did not exist.

**and expressing the hope that you would care for him as though he were your own." **

**Dumbledore paused, and although his voice remained light and calm, and he gave no obvious sign of anger, Harry felt a kind of chill emanating from him and noticed that the Dursleys drew very slightly closer together. **

"**You did not do as I asked. You have never treated Harry as a son. He has known nothing but neglect and often cruelty at your hands. **

There were dark looks all around at this.

**The best that can be said is that he has at least escaped the appalling damage you have inflicted upon the unfortunate boy sitting between you." **

**Both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked around instinctively, as though expecting to see someone other than Dudley squeezed between them. **

"**Us — mistreat Dudders? What d'you —?" began Uncle Vernon furiously, but Dumbledore raised his finger for silence, a silence which fell as though he had struck Uncle Vernon dumb. **

"I thought he was already dumb."

"**The magic I evoked fifteen years ago means that Harry has powerful protection while he can **

**still call this house 'home.' However miserable he has been here, however unwelcome, however badly treated, you have at least, grudgingly, allowed him houseroom. This magic will cease to operate the moment that Harry turns seventeen; in other words, at the moment he becomes a man. I ask only this: that you allow Harry to return, once more, to this house, before his seventeenth birthday, which will ensure that the protection continues until that time." **

**None of the Dursleys said anything. Dudley was frowning slightly, as though he was still trying **

**to work out when he had ever been mistreated. **

**Uncle Vernon looked as though he had something stuck in his throat; Aunt Petunia, however, **

**was oddly flushed. **

"As she should be," muttered Lily darkly.

"**Well, Harry…time for us to be off," said Dumbledore at last, standing up and straightening his **

**long black cloak. "Until we meet again," he said to the Dursleys, who looked as though that moment could wait forever as far as they were concerned, and after doffing his hat, he swept from the room. **

"**Bye," said Harry hastily to the Dursleys, **

"Why bother?"

**and followed Dumbledore, who paused beside Harry's **

**trunk, upon which Hedwig's cage was perched.**

"**We do not want to be encumbered by these just now," he said, pulling out his wand again. "I shall send them to the Burrow to await us there. However, I would like you to bring your Invisibility Cloak**

The mauraders looked at each other excitedly.

"Is it…?"

"Do you think…?"

"…same one?"

"Well," stated James, "there is no way of finding out right now."

…**just in case." **

**Harry extracted his cloak from his trunk with some difficulty, trying not to show Dumbledore the mess within. When he had stuffed it into an inside pocket of his jacket, Dumbledore waved his wand and the trunk, cage, and Hedwig vanished. Dumbledore then waved his wand again, and the front door opened onto cool, misty darkness. **

"**And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure." **

James set down the book and looked at the others. "So…", he began.

But before he could get any further Lily interrupted, "Is Harry our son?", she asked quietly.

The others simply looked at her sadly. They all knew the answer in the hearts, but to say it would make it awfully true.

However; before any of them could think of an answer, and large bronze colored barn owl swooped out of the fire and dropped a scroll in Remus' lap.

_A/N:_ So, three chapters done!! Happy dance!! Anyways, _hopefully_ updates should go faster now that things in my life are slowing down. Any traveling is out of the way for a while, my AP exams are done, and I only have 21 days of High School left! So really, the only thing I have to worry about for a while is work, because anything else I need to do I can take care of in school. So hope you enjoyed. I really did fully intend to have the contents in the letter and the next major part of the action take place in this chapter, but my creative side just switched off. So I took that as a cue to continue tomorrow. Besides, that garuntees that you guys will get this chapter faster. But I did have a question for all of you. Let's say, hypothetically speaking, I were to bring in people from the future, should they be from after that final battle and all that stuff, or should they still be going through that? I had the thought of maybe having them be at the end of their sixth year, before their quest for the horacruxes, as that would have them not knowing what was going to happen, and experience it along with everybody else. I'm not really sure which. So, let me know what y'all think and read, review, and enjoy!!


	5. Some Other People Join

_**A/N: Yes, this is actually an update. Unfortunately, this chapter was nearly completed before my computer died on me and sadly it was one of the files I lost. Not only that, but I had to re figure all of the dates and time to make sure everything fit. But I am absolutely certain at this point that all my dates and situations are accurate. I was very pleased with this the first time around, and don't really think that this lives up to the first attempt, so I apologize if you don't like it. There is no actual reading this chapter due to more technical difficulties, but I do have a favor to ask of all of my readers; if you have a version of this 6**__**th**__** and/or 7**__**th**__** book in a successfully converted word document, could you please send it my way. If you just PM me I would supply you with my email. Or, if you know of a program or service that does good conversions, if you could let me know that too I would greatly appreciate it. In the mean time, please enjoy and review!**_

**Chapter Five**

All eyes followed the bronze owl as it fluttered to the top of the china cabinet, its large intelligent amber eyes watching them all expectantly.

"Well," began Remus, "I guess we are supposed to read this."  
With this he picked up the letter in his lap, unfurled it, and began to read aloud;

_"You have been given these books for a reason. The tales that you read are the actual events of the future. The boy Harry is the son of Lily and James Potter."_

At this point Lily smiled at James and he squeezed her hand. Remus continued reading silently for a few moments, his expression growing grimmer as he went. Sirius noticed,

"What's up Moony?"

Remus glanced back up at the other three people in the room and set the letter down. They were all startled to see a faint shimmer of water in his eyes.

"This letter tells us our futures." He said by way of explanation. In response to the bewildered look on their faces, he retrieved the letter but paused before resuming the narrative.

"This may be easier if you all let me get straight through this, without interruptions."

James frowned, "Well, sure if you think it will be better Moony, but what…"

"Just let me read James. Please."

His frown deepened and he glanced at the other two. He thought for a moment before he responded, "Go on then Moony. No interruptions." The last part was spoken with more emphasis directed towards Sirius.

Remus drew a shaky breath and resumed reading;

_"On the night of October 31, 1981, __Lord Voldemort__ arrived at their home in Godric's Hallow with the intention of killing their son Harry. He killed James; but gave Lily the chance to live. She sacrificed her life for her son, causing the Avada Kedavra curse to deflect and destroy Voldemort, leaving Harry unharmed, with nothing more than a lightning bolt shaped scar. He was taken by Albus Dumbledore to live with his only surviving relatives; Lily's sister Petunia and her family. The Dursleys never told Harry anything about his past or why his parents had died. The book you have now tells of Harry's sixth year of Hogwarts, and the beginning of the __second war__ against Voldemort. You will be joined by some of the people from the future at approximately __8pm__, who will be better able to answer your questions as you go along. Hopefully, with this new knowledge of the future, you will be able to help to change the course of events, and create a better future for all._

_Best wishes and Good Luck! _

_Sincerely- Isabelle"_

When Remus stopped reading, silence overtook the cottage in Godric's Hallow. Eventually it was filled with Lily's sobs. James' face was stark white as he gently stroked Lily's hair. Sirius was fuming, but attempting to control his urge to break something. Remus was shell shocked. Since the beginning of the last chapter he, like the other three, had assumed a similar scenario, but to read it stated so plainly was so much more traumatic. James and Lily would die. Their son would be left an orphan. Sirius was dead, and Merlin knows where he himself was. This future was a sad dark place that he had no desire to see firsthand. As he looked around to his closest friends, he felt a pang. They all knew their futures, and they were dark and bleak. As he was the only one unaffected by this, it was up to him to attempt to retain some semblance of normalcy. He picked up the letter and reread the part about future people showing up at 8pm. He looked up to the others and asked, "What time is it now?"

James stretched his arm around Lily to glance at his watch. "7:57"

They all looked each other.

"So that means…" began Lily.

"…that these future people should be here in three minutes." finished Sirius with an air of amazement.

Remus looked thoughtful, "I wonder who will be coming."

"I wonder if they are going to bring dinner."

"Padfoot, this is hardly the time to think about your stomach," chided Lily as James chuckled. Though, she had smiled at him as she said it.

"But I'm hungry," Sirius whimpered over dramatically.

After they had all had a laugh on Sirius' behalf, James decided it was time to breech the subject they all had been avoiding since the letter had been read.

"So, if we die on Oct 31, 1981, and currently it is December of 1979, that means we have…"

"Less than 2 years to live," Lily finished.

Another ponderous silence followed this ominous statement. It was broken after a few moments by Lily.

"Well, I can tell you what we are not going to do."

James gave her a look that was somewhere between bewildered and amused, "And what exactly are we _not_ going to do?"

"We are not going to mope around for the next three years. We are going to live life as usually and take nothing for granted. And who knows, futures can be changed. This may not happen at all. We won't know either way until it does. So starting now, we are going to carry on as usual, and learn what else the future has in store for all of us. And our son," she finished quietly mouth set in a grim line.

James smiled and wrapped his arms around her while the other two watched with sad smiles on their faces. As they all sat in comfortable silence, Lily gazed out the window into the mid-December evening with a sad smile. Despite the somber news they had just received, Lily could not suppress the happiness that she would soon have a son. As she imagined the joy of having a son for even a little while, she suddenly thought of how she had been feeling a little off lately, and how the fumes from her potions had been making her feel so nauseous, when they normally did not bother her in the slightest. As she thought about these things, her hand drifted subconsciously to her abdomen, and her smile grew larger spread. It seemed impossible, but the facts were all there. Lily hadn't really put too much thought into the odd feelings, but when faced with the fact that she was indeed going to have a son within the next too year, it only stood to reason that this boy they had been reading about was growing inside of her at this very moment. She thought about telling James, but decided against it. It would be her little secret for now. Perhaps later on that evening she would steal into the bathroom where she had a few muggle pregnancy tests in the medicine cabinet, but for now she would just enjoy the reading with her little secret.

Somewhere in the distance, the church bells proclaimed it 8 o'clock as a bluish glow lit up the parlor of the cottage and four people tumbled ungracefully from the ceiling. Lily and James broke apart as all of the four prior inhabitants stared at the tangle of bodies that now cluttered the floor near the hearth rug.

As they watched, a teenage girl with fiery red hair a shade darker than Lily's lifted herself off of the top of the heap and began to brush the dust off of her robes. As she cleaned her robes, a boy who seemed to be about the same age heaved himself off of the other two and rubbed the back of his neck, wincing.

"How did you manage to get the softest landing?" he asked the red-headed girl as he bent down to help the next victim up.

The red-head grinned cockily, "Age before beauty Harry."

"Then how come I ended up on the bottom?" groaned another red head from the ground, "Hermione is like 8 months older than me."

"Ronald!" exclaimed the brown haired girl Harry had just helped up, "what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Errr… Nothing?" Stammered Ron nervously as he heaved himself off of the rug, "all I meant is that, well, you are older, I didn't mean…"

His nervous stuttering was cut short by Hermione's giggles. As he realized she was laughing, his nervous expression dissolved into a grin. Harry and the red headed girl laughed at the two of them.

"Err, Hi?" said James, puzzled as he glanced around, "I'm guessing you would be the "people from the future that Isabelle mentioned.

Harry shrugged, "I guess so. I have no idea why we are here. One moment we were all at the Burrow, and the next thing we know, there is this strange glowing blue light, and then we were picking ourselves up from the floor. We have no idea what is going on, why we are here, or where 'here' is for that matter." Harry concluded and looked imploringly at the four people from the present.

"Well," began Remus, being the first to gain his bearings, "we received a letter from a person who has sent us books from the future informing us that there would be people from the story arriving here at precisely eight o'clock tonight." He paused to glance at the clock on the mantel; it read 8:02. "And I must say you were very prompt."

"For once." sniffed Hermione, with a significant look at Ron.

Lily allowed a small smile as she watched their exchange, and decided it was time for clarification. "So," she began, all eyes in the room turning to her, "you are Hermione?" she questioned, gesturing towards the brown haired girl. "And Ronald." She continued looking at the red headed boy next to her. Hermione nodded at the same time that Ronald corrected Lily with a smile, "Ron."

Lily nodded and looked over at Ginny curiously, "But I don't know who you are."

"My name is Ginny Weasley. The prat over here on my left is my brother, and that's Hermione Granger."

"So," James began hesitantly, "you must be Harry."

Harry nodded.

"So you are our," James motioned between himself and Lily, "son?"

Harry nodded.

They all stared at each other in silence for a few moments until Lily got up and walked across the room to stand in front of Harry. She gazed at him for several moments, her eyes drinking in all of his features, which so resembled those of her husband, and his eyes, a perfect replica of her own. She reached out and hugged him tightly, and he returned eagerly. In this time James had risen from his seat on the loveseat and walked over to join the pair. He put his arms around the both of them and they stayed that way for an entire minute. When the broke apart, two sets of green and one pair of brown eyes were all misted.

Once this heartwarming moment concluded, Remus decided it was time to get back to business.

"So how much do you four know about what is going on here?"

It was Hermione who answered, "We just received a mysterious letter and which said that we would be transported to the past to help some people understand the future. That was it."

Ron continued, "We were all at our house", he gestured to Ginny and himself, "when the letter came, them there was just this burst of blue light and, well, you saw the rest."

"So when are you from?" asked Sirius

"We left the year 1996, right after the end of my 5th year at Hogwarts, and this lots' 6th. Might I ask when we are now?"

Sirius grinned at Ginny and answered, "Today is the 13th of December, 1979."

"Well, now that we have all of the basics covered, should we start to read again?" suggested James. "Lily, I believe it was your turn?"

Lily accepted the book passed to her by her husband and waited until everyone was settled in a comfortable position before she began to read.

**Chapter Four: Horace Slughorn…**


	6. Chapter Four: Horace Slughorn

A/N: Sorry about the delay all, I have been working on this chapter for quite some time and it was supposed to be out sometime about two weeks ago, but things came up. Basically, if I were to attempt to explain now, you all would probably not believe me because it seems like the plot of a very bad Soap Opera, so I am not even going to try. Anyways, here is the next chapter. I don't think it is very good, but I thought this was a rather boring chapter to begin with. So without further adieu – Chapter four!

**Chapter Four: Horace Slughorn**

**Despite the fact that he had spent every waking moment of****the past few days hoping desperately that Dumbledore would indeed come to fetch him, Harry felt distinctly awkward as they set off down Privet Drive together. **

"But if you feel comfortable enough around him to look forward to seeing him outside of shcool, then why should it be awkward?" asked Remus

"Because Harry's weird like that," Ron said with a shrug.

**He had never had a proper conversation with the headmaster outside of Hogwarts before; there was usually a desk between them. **

"Well that makes more sense" said Lily.

**The memory of their last face-to-face encounter kept intruding too, and it rather heightened Harry's sense of embarrassment; he had shouted a lot on that occa sion, not to mention done his best to smash several of Dumble dore's most prized possessions.**

"Now I definitely see how that could've been akward," Remus chuckled, "but why where you smashing his possessions?"

"It was right after Sirius had died, and he was trying to talk to me."

"Oh," said Remus with a frown. He could understood that. If Sirius, or James or Lily, died now, he probably would do much more than smash things.

Sirius on the other hand was concerned and intrigued by this information. Was his future self really that close Harry that he would be so distraught? Even though Sirius liked the idea of being that close to Harry, he felt bad that he had been responsible for causing the boy pain.

**Dumbledore, however, seemed completely relaxed.**

"**Keep your wand at the ready, Harry," he said brightly.**

"**But I thought I'm not allowed to use magic outside school, sir?"**

"I'm pretty sure you know that one pretty well," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"**If there is an attack," said Dumbledore, "I give you permission to use any counterjinx or curse that might occur to you. However, I do not think you need worry about being attacked tonight."**

"**Why not, sir?"**

"**You are with me," said Dumbledore simply. **

Sirius chuckled, "He is so modest."

"**This will do, Harry."**

**He came to an abrupt halt at the end of Privet Drive.**

"**You have not, of course, passed your Apparition Test," he said.**

"**No," said Harry. "I thought you had to be seventeen?"**

"**You do," said Dumbledore. "So you will need to hold on to my arm very tightly. My left, if you don't mind — as you have noticed, my wand arm is a little fragile at the moment."**

**Harry gripped Dumbledore's proffered forearm.**

"**Very good," said Dumbledore. "Well, here we go."**

**Harry felt Dumbledore's arm twist away from him and redou bled his grip; the next thing he knew, everything went black; he was being pressed very hard from all directions; he could not breathe, there were iron bands tightening around his chest; his eye balls were being forced back into his head; his eardrums were being pushed deeper into his skull and then —**

**He gulped great lungfuls of cold night air and opened his streaming eyes. He felt as though he had just been forced through a very tight rubber tube. It was a few seconds before he realized that Privet Drive had vanished. He and Dumbledore were now stand ing in what appeared to be a deserted village square, in the center of which stood an old war memorial and a few benches. His com prehension catching up with his senses, Harry realized that he had just apparated for the first time in his life.**

Ron scowled and Ginny cringed.

"Sounds like something to look forward to," Ginny stated sarcastically.

"I still can't get the hang of it," muttered Ron to himself.

"**Are you all right?" asked Dumbledore, looking down at him so licitously. "The sensation does take some getting used to."**

"**I'm fine," said Harry, rubbing his ears, which felt as though****they had left Privet Drive rather reluctantly. "But I think I might prefer brooms. …"**

"Still do."

**Dumbledore smiled, drew his traveling cloak a little more tightly around his neck, and said, "This way."**

**He set off at a brisk pace, past an empty inn and a few houses. According to a clock on a nearby church, it was almost midnight.**

"**So tell me, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Your scar … has it been hurting at all?"**

Remus looked interested by this. "Your scar hurts?"

"Yeah, whenever Voldemort is feeling a really strong emotion, and sometimes when he is nearby."

"Interesting…" Remus mused. He had never come across anything like that before. He was going to have to think more about that one.

**Harry raised a hand unconsciously to his forehead and rubbed the lightning-shaped mark.**

"**No," he said, "and I've been wondering about that. I thought it would be burning all the time now Voldemort's getting so power ful again."**

**He glanced up at Dumbledore and saw that he was wearing a satisfied expression.**

"**I, on the other hand, thought otherwise," said Dumbledore. "Lord Voldemort has finally realized the dangerous access to his thoughts and feelings you have been enjoying. It appears that he is now employing Occlumency against you."**

Lily looked sharply up at Harry to see him and the other three from the future wearing sad looks.

"Why has he _finally_ realized this," she asked warily, "has he had the experience often?"

Harry looked uncomfortable but answered anyways, in a low voice, eyes transfixed on the carpet;

"He tricked me by sending me a false vision, and it lead to Sirius' death."

He looked up to see four stunned expressions from the people of the past.

"When you say…" Sirius began.

"Harry, I think you are going to have to tell us more," Remus said gently.

Harry took a deep breath and began. Ginny reached over and clasped his hand as he talked.

"He sent me a vision of Sirius trapped in the Department of Mysteries, being tortured because he wouldn't give them the weapon that he wanted."

Lily's eyes widened and James and Remus looked sadly at each other. If either of them had seen that, they would have done anything it took to save their friend, just as he would have done for them.

Harry continued; determine to finish this horrible story, "He showed me that because he wanted me to come. It was a trap. He knew that Sirius was the one person I would do anything to save, well, that wasn't already with me a Hogwarts," he added looking to his three friends around him. Hermione gave him a sad smile, Ron clasped his shoulder, and Ginny gave his hand a squeeze.

"I tried to talk to Sirius through the fireplace, but instead I got Kreacher, who lied to me and told me that Sirius was at the Ministry. So we went to the ministry to save him – me, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and our friends Neville and Luna. We got there, had to find the hall of prophecy, and discovered that it was all a trap. Sirius wasn't there, and I had led all of my friends into a battle with Death Eaters."

Harry paused at this point, returning to his guilt for getting his friends in such a situation. However, a squeeze to his hand by Ginny returned him to the story at hand. They had talked about his guilt many times before and the three of them had all agreed that they didn't blame Harry, and that if they were in his situation then, they would have done the same thing. He took a deep breath and carried on;

"We fought our way out, mainly surviving because they wanted the prophecy that I was holding. We all fought, Hermione and Ron were both really hurt, Ginny and Luna soon were also incapacitated, and it was just me and Neville, and Neville had a broken nose and a broken wand. Thankfully, the order showed up and took on the remaining Death Eaters. Both Remus and Sirius were there. Remus came over and tried to tell me to get everyone and get out, but as we were leaving, Dumbledore arrived. So we didn't exactly hurry up at that point," Harry concluded eitha a grin. But as he continued, his face grew more somber, as did the rest of the future kids, "Everyone had stopped dueling, except for Sirius and Bellatrix."

At this Lily drew a sharp breath and Remus and James cringed. Sirius looked at them defiantly.

"What? You guys all know that she is an extremely skilled dueler, I am one of the few people that could handle her in a duel, especially because I have been fighting with her for so long."

"Yes Padfoot," said Remus shakily, "but she is also one of the few people who stands a chance of defeating you." James stiffly nodded his consent to this statement whist rubbing circles on his wife's back.

Sirius smug expression faltered slightly, but he motioned for Harry to continue.

"Anyways," Harry resumed, "Sirius and Bellatrix were still fighting, and as I was watching, I saw one of her curses hit him in the chest, and he fell backwards," his voice wavered a bit, "into the arch, and through the veil. He didn't come back out."

Remus looked down to the carpet and James got up and started swearing and pacing. Lily looked over at Sirius concernedly, and was surprised to see a satisfied expression on his face.

"Sirius…?" she asked confusedly.

He looked up at her with a slight smile, and answered her unspoken question. "At least it was me."

This got both James and Remus to look up at him sharply, with confused expressions that mirrored those of the future kids, save for Ron, who wore an expression of understanding.

Sirius looked around at all of them and elaborated. "At least it was me. Remus was right, she is one of the few that probably could have defeated me, but it's a two way street. _I _am one of the few who could have defeated her. So I am glad that I was the one to be defeated by her, because I would have posed a greater challenge to her than most; I have a great deal of practice dueling my dear cousin. If it had been somebody else, she may have been able to defeat them more quickly and have more victims. I would also rather be the one to die if someone had to snuff it, rather than any of these people," he nodded towards the future kids, "or Remus, or another Order member."

They were all quiet for a few moments as they pondered that. His reasoning made sense. As they all sat in their own thoughts, Hermione turned to Ron; she had noticed his look of understanding earlier on.

"You knew what he was going to say didn't you?"

Ron nodded.

"How?"

"Because it's what I would have done. If I could stop other people from being hurt in whatever way I can, that's what I do." He said this plainly, twisting his torso so he was looking directly at her. She smiled and motioned for Lily to read again.

As Lily resumed, Ginny was mentally cursing Ron's reply. Though she had always known that, it was so much different to hear it said so blatantly aloud. She let out a small, weary sigh and squeezed Harry's hand again. Statements like that just further drove home the fact that she would always have to fear for the safety of three of the most important people in her life above everbody else; her best friend who would take care of the other too no matter what, her favorite brother who would do anything to save someone he loved, and the man that she loved, who had the darkest wizard in the world after his blood.

Harry meanwhile was looking down at his hand intertwined with Ginny's with a small pang of sorrow. Although he had told her that they couldn't be together at Dumbledore's funeral, he could not deny that he still had extremely strong feelings for her, and since they had read the letter telling them that they were going to the past, he had silently noted that while distanced from their current situation, things between them did not have to be so distant. Just maybe.

"**Well, I'm not complaining," said Harry, who missed neither the disturbing dreams nor the startling flashes of insight into Voldemort's mind.**

**They turned a corner, passing a telephone box and a bus shelter. Harry looked sideways at Dumbledore again. "Professor?"**

"**Harry?"**

"**Er — where exactly are we?"**

"**This, Harry, is the charming village of Budleigh Babberton."**

"**And what are we doing here?"**

"**Ah yes, of course, I haven't told you," said Dumbledore. "Well, I have lost count of the number of times I have said this in recent years, but we are, once again, one member of staff short. We are here to persuade an old colleague of mine to come out of retire ment and return to Hogwarts."**

"**How can I help with that, sir?"**

"**Oh, I think we'll find a use for you," said Dumbledore vaguely. "Left here, Harry."**

**They proceeded up a steep, narrow street lined with houses. All the windows were dark. The odd chill that had lain over Privet Drive for two weeks persisted here too. Thinking of dementors, Harry cast a look over his shoulder and grasped his wand reassur ingly in his pocket.**

"**Professor, why couldn't we just Apparate directly into your old colleague's house?"**

Everybody in the room turned to look at Harry incredulously.

He shrugged, "Sorry, I didn't know yet."

"**Because it would be quite as rude as kicking down the front door," said Dumbledore. "Courtesy dictates that we offer fellow wizards the opportunity of denying us entry. In any case, most Wizarding dwellings are magically protected from unwanted Ap parators. At Hogwarts, for instance —"**

"— **you can't Apparate anywhere inside the buildings or grounds," said Harry quickly. "Hermione Granger told me."**

Hermione beamed, "You did listen!"

"Hermione, you've told us so many times, it was bound to sink in eventually," snorted Ron.

Harry chuckled in agreement.

"**And she is quite right. We turn left again."**

**The church clock chimed midnight behind them. Harry won dered why Dumbledore did not consider it rude to call on his old colleague so late, but now that conversation had been established, he had more pressing questions to ask.**

"**Sir, I saw in the **_**Daily Prophet**_** that Fudge has been sacked. …"**

"**Correct," said Dumbledore, now turning up a steep side street.****"He has been replaced, as I am sure you also saw, by Rufus Scrim geour, who used to be Head of the Auror office."**

"**Is he … Do you think he's good?" asked Harry.**

"**An interesting question," said Dumbledore. "He is able, cer tainly. A more decisive and forceful personality than Cornelius."**

"**Yes, but I meant —"**

"**I know what you meant. Rufus is a man of action and, having fought Dark wizards for most of his working life, does not under estimate Lord Voldemort."**

**Harry waited, but Dumbledore did not say anything about the disagreement with Scrimgeour that the **_**Daily Prophet**_** had reported, and he did not have the nerve to pursue the subject, so he changed it. "And … sir … I saw about Madam Bones."**

"**Yes," said Dumbledore quietly. "A terrible loss. She was a great witch. Just up here, I think — ouch."**

**He had pointed with his injured hand.**

"**Professor, what happened to your — ?"**

"**I have no time to explain now," said Dumbledore. "It is a thrilling tale, I wish to do it justice."**

**He smiled at Harry, who understood that he was not being snubbed, and that he had permission to keep asking questions.**

Now it was Ginny's turn to snort, "like that would have stopped you anyways."

"**Sir — I got a Ministry of Magic leaflet by owl, about security measures we should all take against the Death Eaters. …"**

"**Yes, I received one myself," said Dumbledore, still smiling. "Did you find it useful?"**

"**Not really."**

"**No, I thought not. You have not asked me, for instance, what is my favorite flavor of jam, to check that I am indeed Professor Dumbledore and not an impostor."**

"**I didn't****…" Harry began, not entirely sure whether he was be ing reprimanded or not.**

"**For future reference, Harry, it is raspberry****… although of course, if I were a Death Eater, I would have been sure to research my own jam preferences before impersonating myself."**

"**Er … right," said Harry. "Well, on that leaflet, it said some thing about Inferi. What exactly are they? The leaflet wasn't very clear."**

"**They are corpses," said Dumbledore calmly. "Dead bodies that have been bewitched to do a Dark wizard's bidding. Inferi have not been seen for a long time, however, not since Voldemort was last powerful. … He killed enough people to make an army of them, of course. This is the place, Harry, just here. …"**

**They were nearing a small, neat stone house set in its own gar den. Harry was too busy digesting the horrible idea of Inferi to have much attention left for anything else,**

Harry shuddered, "I wish I were still ignorant."

**but as they reached the front gate, Dumbledore stopped dead and Harry walked into him.**

"**Oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear."**

**Harry followed his gaze up the carefully tended front path and felt his heart sink. The front door was hanging off its hinges.**

**Dumbledore glanced up and down the street. It seemed quite deserted.**

"**Wand out and follow me, Harry," he said quietly.**

**He opened the gate and walked swiftly and silently up the gar den path, Harry at his heels, then pushed the front door very slowly, his wand raised and at the ready.**

"_**Lumos.**_**"**

**Dumbledore's wand tip ignited, casting its light up a narrow hallway. To the left, another door stood open. Holding his illumi nated wand aloft, Dumbledore walked into the sitting room with Harry right behind him.**

**A scene of total devastation met their eyes. A grandfather clock lay splintered at their feet, its face cracked, its pendulum lying a lit tle farther away like a dropped sword. A piano was on its side, its keys strewn across the floor. The wreckage of a fallen chandelier glittered nearby. Cushions lay deflated, feathers oozing from slashes in their sides; fragments of glass and china lay like powder over everything. Dumbledore raised his wand even higher, so that its light was thrown upon the walls, where something darkly red and glutinous was spattered over the wallpaper. **

Lily gasped and her green eyes grew wide with fear, "Professor Slughorn!" she moaned, having always liked him. He was her favorite professor, except for perhaps Flickwick.

**Harry's small intake of breath made Dumbledore look around.**

"**Not pretty, is it?" he said heavily. "Yes, something horrible has happened here."**

**Dumbledore moved carefully into the middle of the room, scru tinizing the wreckage at his feet. Harry followed, gazing around, half-scared of what he might see hidden behind the wreck of the pi ano or the overturned sofa, but there was no sign of a body.**

"**Maybe there was a fight and — and they dragged him off, Pro fessor?" Harry suggested, trying not to imagine how badly wounded a man would have to be to leave those stains spattered halfway up the walls.**

Lily cringed.

"**I don't think so," said Dumbledore quietly, peering behind an overstuffed armchair lying on its side.**

"**You mean he's — ?"**

"**Still here somewhere? Yes."**

**And without warning, Dumbledore swooped, plunging the tip of his wand into the seat of the overstuffed armchair, which yelled, "Ouch!"**

"**Good evening, Horace," said Dumbledore, straightening up again.**

**Harry's jaw dropped. Where a split second before there had been an armchair, there now crouched an enormously fat, bald, old man who was massaging his lower belly and squinting up at Dumble dore with an aggrieved and watery eye.**

Now Lily huffed indignantly and James chuckled at her façade, he could tell from the relief in her eyes that she was glad that old Sluggy was safe.

"**There was no need to stick the wand in that hard," he said gruffly, clambering to his feet. "It hurt."**

**The wandlight sparkled on his shiny pate, his prominent eyes, his enormous, silver, walruslike mustache, and the highly polished buttons on the maroon velvet jacket he was wearing over a pair of lilac silk pajamas. The top of his head barely reached Dumbledore's chin.**

"**What gave it away?" he grunted as he staggered to his feet, still rubbing his lower belly. He seemed remarkably unabashed for a man who had just been discovered pretending to be an armchair.**

"**My dear Horace," said Dumbledore, looking amused, "if the Death Eaters really had come to call, the Dark Mark would have been set over the house."**

Sirius grinned, "You think he would have remembered something so _obvious._"

**The wizard clapped a pudgy hand to his vast forehead.**

"**The Dark Mark," he muttered. "Knew there was something … ah well. Wouldn't have had time anyway, I'd only just put the finishing touches to my upholstery when you entered the room."**

**He heaved a great sigh that made the ends of his mustache flutter.**

"**Would you like my assistance clearing up?" asked Dumbledore politely.**

"**Please," said the other.**

**They stood back to back, the tall thin wizard and the short round one, and waved their wands in one identical sweeping motion.**

**The furniture flew back to its original places; ornaments re formed in midair, feathers zoomed into their cushions; torn books repaired themselves as they landed upon their shelves; oil lanterns soared onto side tables and reignited; a vast collection of splintered silver picture frames flew glittering across the room and alighted, whole and untarnished, upon a desk; rips, cracks, and holes healed everywhere, and the walls wiped themselves clean.**

"**What kind of blood was that, incidentally?" asked Dumbledore loudly over the chiming of the newly unsmashed grandfather clock.**

"**On the walls? Dragon," shouted the wizard called Horace, as, with a deafening grinding and tinkling, the chandelier screwed it self back into the ceiling.**

**There was a final **_**plunk**_** from the piano, and silence.**

"**Yes, dragon," repeated the wizard conversationally. "My last bottle, and prices are sky-high at the moment. Still, it might be reusable."**

**He stumped over to a small crystal bottle standing on top of a sideboard and held it up to the light, examining the thick liquid within.**

"**Hmm. Bit dusty."**

**He set the bottle back on the sideboard and sighed. It was then that his gaze fell upon Harry.**

"**Oho," he said, his large round eyes flying to Harry's forehead and the lightning-shaped scar it bore. "**_**Oho**_**!"**

Everybody rolled their eyes at Slughorn's behavior.

"**This," said Dumbledore, moving forward to make the intro duction, "is Harry Potter. Harry, this is an old friend and colleague of mine, Horace Slughorn."**

**Slughorn turned on Dumbledore, his expression shrewd. "So that's how you thought you'd persuade me, is it? Well, the answer's no, Albus."**

**He pushed past Harry, his face turned resolutely away with the air of a man trying to resist temptation.**

"**I suppose we can have a drink, at least?" asked Dumbledore. "For old time's sake?"**

**Slughorn hesitated.**

"**All right then, one drink," he said ungraciously.**

**Dumbledore smiled at Harry and directed him toward a chair not unlike the one that Slughorn had so recently impersonated,**

Ginny chuckled at that and everyone looked at her quizzically.

"Sorry," she said through her giggles, "but for some reason that just strikes me as so funny."

**which stood right beside the newly burning fire and a brightly glowing oil lamp. Harry took the seat with the distinct impression that Dumbledore, for some reason, wanted to keep him as visible as possible. Certainly when Slughorn, who had been busy with de canters and glasses, turned to face the room again, his eyes fell im mediately upon Harry.**

"**Hmpf," he said, looking away quickly as though frightened of hurting his eyes. "Here —" He gave a drink to Dumbledore, who had sat down without invitation, thrust the tray at Harry, and then sank into the cushions of the repaired sofa and a disgruntled si lence. His legs were so short they did not touch the floor.**

"**Well, how have you been keeping, Horace?" Dumbledore asked.**

"**Not so well," said Slughorn at once. "Weak chest. Wheezy.****Rheumatism too. Can't move like I used to. Well, that's to be ex pected. Old age. Fatigue."**

"**And yet you must have moved fairly quickly to prepare such a welcome for us at such short notice," said Dumbledore. "You can't have had more than three minutes' warning?"**

**Slughorn said, half irritably, half proudly, "Two. Didn't hear my Intruder Charm go off, I was taking a bath. Still," he added sternly, seeming to pull himself back together again, "the fact remains that I'm an old man, Albus. A tired old man who's earned the right to a quiet life and a few creature comforts."**

**He certainly had those, thought Harry, looking around the room. It was stuffy and cluttered, yet nobody could say it was un comfortable; there were soft chairs and footstools, drinks and books, boxes of chocolates and plump cushions. If Harry had not known who lived there, he would have guessed at a rich, fussy old lady.**

Everyone chuckled.

"You wouldn't be so far from the truth," Remus commented wryly.

"**You're not yet as old as I am, Horace," said Dumbledore.**

"**Well, maybe you ought to think about retirement yourself," said Slughorn bluntly. His pale gooseberry eyes had found Dum bledore's injured hand. "Reactions not what they were, I see."**

"**You're quite right," said Dumbledore serenely, shaking back his sleeve to reveal the tips of those burned and blackened fingers; the sight of them made the back of Harry's neck prickle unpleasantly. **

Sirius turned to look at the four from the future; "Do you guys _know_ what happened to him?"

They all nodded.

"Are you going to enlighten us."

They all shook their heads.

Sirius gave a frustrated grumble, and Ron laughed, "It'll come out by the end of the book I'm sure."

Sirius looked at the length of the book mournfully.

"**I am undoubtedly slower than I was. But on the other hand …"**

**He shrugged and spread his hands wide, as though to say that age had its compensations, and Harry noticed a ring on his unin jured hand that he had never seen Dumbledore wear before: It was large, rather clumsily made of what looked like gold, and was set****with a heavy black stone that had cracked down the middle. Slughorn's eyes lingered for a moment on the ring too, and Harry saw a tiny frown momentarily crease his wide forehead.**

"**So, all these precautions against intruders, Horace … are they for the Death Eaters' benefit, or mine?" asked Dumbledore.**

"**What would the Death Eaters want with a poor broken-down old buffer like me?" demanded Slughorn.**

"**I imagine that they would want you to turn your considerable talents to coercion, torture, and murder," said Dumbledore. "Are you really telling me that they haven't come recruiting yet?"**

**Slughorn eyed Dumbledore balefully for a moment, then mut tered, "I haven't given them the chance. I've been on the move for a year. Never stay in one place more than a week. Move from Mug gle house to Muggle house — the owners of this place are on holi day in the Canary Islands — it's been very pleasant, I'll be sorry to leave. It's quite easy once you know how, one simple Freezing Charm on these absurd burglar alarms they use instead of Sneako scopes and make sure the neighbors don't spot you bringing in the piano."**

"**Ingenious," said Dumbledore. "But it sounds a rather tiring ex istence for a broken-down old buffer in search of a quiet life. Now, if you were to return to Hogwarts —"**

"**If you're going to tell me my life would be more peaceful at that pestilential school, you can save your breath, Albus! I might have been in hiding, but some funny rumors have reached me since Do lores Umbridge left! If that's how you treat teachers these days —"**

The people from the future chuckled and the other 4 looked at them curiously.

"You'll find out when we explain our past years at school," explained Hermione.

"**Professor Umbridge ran afoul of our centaur herd," said Dum bledore. "I think you, Horace, would have known better than to****stride into the forest and call a horde of angry centaurs 'filthy half-breeds.' "**

"**That's what she did, did she?" said Slughorn. "Idiotic woman. Never liked her."**

**Harry chuckled and both Dumbledore and Slughorn looked round at him.**

"**Sorry," Harry said hastily. "It's just — I didn't like her either."**

"Understatement of the century," said Ginny rolling her eyes.

**Dumbledore stood up rather suddenly.**

"**Are you leaving?" asked Slughorn at once, looking hopeful.**

"**No, I was wondering whether I might use your bathroom," said Dumbledore.**

"**Oh," said Slughorn, clearly disappointed. "Second on the left down the hall."**

**Dumbledore strode from the room. Once the door had closed behind him, there was silence. After a few moments, Slughorn got to his feet but seemed uncertain what to do with himself. He shot a furtive look at Harry, then crossed to the fire and turned his back on it, warming his wide behind.**

"**Don't think I don't know why he's brought you," he said abruptly.**

**Harry merely looked at Slughorn. Slughorn's watery eyes slid over Harry's scar, this time taking in the rest of his face.**

"**You look very like your father."**

James beamed, and Lily squeezed his hand.

"**Yeah, I've been told," said Harry.**

"**Except for your eyes. You've got —"**

"**My mother's eyes, yeah." Harry had heard it so often he found it a bit wearing.**

The other three from the future all looked at him incredulously.

"Well I do," he began but at Ron's raised eyebrows, added, "sometimes."

"**Hmpf. Yes, well. You shouldn't have favorites as a teacher,**

Now it was Ron's turn to snort.

**of****course, but she was one of mine. Your mother," Slughorn added, in answer to Harry's questioning look. "Lily Evans. One of the bright est I ever taught. Vivacious, you know. Charming girl. I used to tell her she ought to have been in my House. Very cheeky answers I used to get back too."**

"**Which was your House?"**

"**I was Head of Slytherin," said Slughorn. "Oh, now," he went on quickly, seeing the expression on Harry's face and wagging a stubby finger at him, "don't go holding that against me! You'll be Gryffindor like her, I suppose? Yes, it usually goes in families. Not always, though. Ever heard of Sirius Black? You must have done — been in the papers for the last couple of years — died a few weeks ago —"**

**It was as though an invisible hand had twisted Harry's intestines and held them tight.**

The Marauders and Lily looked down again at the mention of Sirius' death, While Ron and Hermione looked at Harry sympathetically and Ginny squeezed his hand again.

"**Well, anyway, he was a big pal of your father's at school. The whole Black family had been in my House, but Sirius ended up in Gryffindor! Shame — he was a talented boy. I got his brother, Regulus, when he came along, but I'd have liked the set."**

**He sounded like an enthusiastic collector who had been outbid at auction. Apparently lost in memories, he gazed at the opposite wall, turning idly on the spot to ensure an even heat on his backside.**

"**Your mother was Muggle-born, of course. Couldn't believe it when I found out. Thought she must have been pure-blood, she was so good."**

"**One of my best friends is Muggle-born," said Harry, "and she's the best in our year."**

"**Funny how that sometimes happens, isn't it?" said Slughorn.**

"**Not really," said Harry coldly.**

James beamed at his son once again.

**Slughorn looked down at him in surprise. "You mustn't think I'm prejudiced!" he said. "No, no, no! Haven't I just said your mother was one of my all-time favorite students? And there was Dirk Cresswell in the year after her too — now Head of the Gob lin Liaison Office, of course — another Muggle-born, a very gifted student, and still gives me excellent inside information on the goings-on at Gringotts!"**

**He bounced up and down a little, smiling in a self-satisfied way, and pointed at the many glittering photograph frames on the dresser, each peopled with tiny moving occupants.**

"**All ex-students, all signed. You'll notice Barnabas Cuffe, editor of the **_**Daily Prophet,**_** he's always interested to hear my take on the day's news. And Ambrosius Flume, of Honeydukes — a hamper every birthday, and all because I was able to give him an introduc tion to Ciceron Harkiss, who gave him his first job! And at the back — you'll see her if you just crane your neck — that's Gwenog Jones, who of course captains the Holyhead Harpies. … People are always astonished to hear I'm on first-name terms with the Harpies, and free tickets whenever I want them!"**

**This thought seemed to cheer him up enormously.**

"**And all these people know where to find you, to send you stuff?" asked Harry, who could not help wondering why the Death Eaters had not yet tracked down Slughorn if hampers of sweets, Quidditch tickets, and visitors craving his advice and opinions could find him.**

**The smile slid from Slughorn's face as quickly as the blood from his walls.**

"**Of course not," he said, looking down at Harry. "I have been out of touch with everybody for a year."**

**Harry had the impression that the words shocked Slughorn him self; he looked quite unsettled for a moment. Then he shrugged.**

"**Still … the prudent wizard keeps his head down in such times. All very well for Dumbledore to talk, but taking up a post at Hog warts just now would be tantamount to declaring my public alle giance to the Order of the Phoenix! And while I'm sure they're very admirable and brave and all the rest of it, I don't personally fancy the mortality rate —"**

"**You don't have to join the Order to teach at Hogwarts," said Harry, who could not quite keep a note of derision out of his voice: It was hard to sympathize with Slughorn's cosseted existence when he remembered Sirius, crouching in a cave and living on rats. **

Sirius looked over at Remus and James, horrified.

"Rats?" he questioned weakly.

Harry gave him a sympathetic look. "We'll explain that later too."

"**Most of the teachers aren't in it, and none of them has ever been killed — well, unless you count Quirrell, and he got what he de served seeing as he was working with Voldemort."**

**Harry had been sure Slughorn would be one of those wizards who could not bear to hear Voldemort's name spoken aloud, and was not disappointed: Slughorn gave a shudder and a squawk of protest, which Harry ignored.**

"**I reckon the staff are safer than most people while Dumble dore's headmaster; he's supposed to be the only one Voldemort ever feared, isn't he?" Harry went on.**

**Slughorn gazed into space for a moment or two: He seemed to be thinking over Harry's words.**

"**Well, yes, it is true that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has never sought a fight with Dumbledore," he muttered grudgingly.****"And I suppose one could argue that as I have not joined the Death Eaters, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named can hardly count me a friend … in which case, I might well be safer a little closer to Albus. … I cannot pretend that Amelia Bones's death did not shake me. … If she, with all her Ministry contacts and protection …"**

**Dumbledore reentered the room and Slughorn jumped as though he had forgotten he was in the house.**

"**Oh, there you are, Albus," he said. "You've been a very long time. Upset stomach?"**

"**No, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines," said Dum bledore. "I do love knitting patterns. Well, Harry, we have tres passed upon Horace's hospitality quite long enough; I think it is time for us to leave."**

**Not at all reluctant to obey, Harry jumped to his feet. Slughorn seemed taken aback.**

"**You're leaving?"**

"**Yes, indeed. I think I know a lost cause when I see one."**

"**Lost… ?"**

**Slughorn seemed agitated. He twiddled his fat thumbs and fidg eted as he watched Dumbledore fasten his traveling cloak, and Harry zip up his jacket.**

"**Well, I'm sorry you don't want the job, Horace," said Dumble dore, raising his uninjured hand in a farewell salute. "Hogwarts would have been glad to see you back again. Our greatly increased security notwithstanding, you will always be welcome to visit, should you wish to."**

"**Yes … well … very gracious … as I say …"**

"**Good-bye, then."**

"**Bye," said Harry.**

**They were at the front door when there was a shout from behind them.**

"**All right, all right, I'll do it!"**

**Dumbledore turned to see Slughorn standing breathless in the doorway to the sitting room.**

"**You will come out of retirement?"**

"**Yes, yes," said Slughorn impatiently. "I must be mad, but yes."**

"**Wonderful," said Dumbledore, beaming. "Then, Horace, we shall see you on the first of September."**

"**Yes, I daresay you will," grunted Slughorn.**

**As they set off down the garden path, Slughorn's voice floated af ter them, "I'll want a pay rise, Dumbledore!"**

**Dumbledore chuckled. The garden gate swung shut behind them, and they set off back down the hill through the dark and the swirling mist.**

"**Well done, Harry," said Dumbledore.**

"**I didn't do anything," said Harry in surprise.**

"**Oh yes you did. You showed Horace exactly how much he stands to gain by returning to Hogwarts. Did you like him?"**

"**Er …"**

**Harry wasn't sure whether he liked Slughorn or not. He sup posed he had been pleasant in his way, but he had also seemed vain and, whatever he said to the contrary, much too surprised that a Muggle-born should make a good witch.**

"**Horace," said Dumbledore, relieving Harry of the responsibil ity to say any of this, "likes his comfort. He also likes the company of the famous, the successful, and the powerful. He enjoys the feel ing that he influences these people. He has never wanted to occupy****the throne himself; he prefers the backseat — more room to spread out, you see. He used to handpick favorites at Hogwarts, some times for their ambition or their brains, sometimes for their charm or their talent, and he had an uncanny knack for choosing those who would go on to become outstanding in their various fields. Horace formed a kind of club of his favorites with himself at the center, making introductions, forging useful contacts between members, and always reaping some kind of benefit in return, whether a free box of his favorite crystalized pineapple or the chance to recommend the next junior member of the Goblin Liaison Office."**

**Harry had a sudden and vivid mental image of a great swollen spider, spinning a web around it, twitching a thread here and there to bring its large and juicy flies a little closer.**

Ron shuddered, "You really do have the strangest mind mate."

Harry chuckled and shrugged.

"**I tell you all this," Dumbledore continued, "not to turn you against Horace — or, as we must now call him, Professor Slug horn — but to put you on your guard. He will undoubtedly try to collect you, Harry. You would be the jewel of his collection; 'the Boy Who Lived' … or, as they call you these days, 'the Chosen****One.' "**

**At these words, a chill that had nothing to do with the sur rounding mist stole over Harry. He was reminded of words he had heard a few weeks ago, words that had a horrible and particular meaning to him: **_**Neither can live while the other survives**_** …**

At this everyone paled, all for different reasons.

Lily and James had no idea what it meant, but judging how things seemed to be going, it had something to do with their son.

Remus and Sirius just knew that that did not sound good for anyone at all.

Ginny had heard the rumors, and as much as she may like to deny it, she was fairly certain that the prophecy did indeed refer to Harry, and she really hated the fact that her boyfriend was the only one that could destroy a certain megalomaniac, and that he may not survive it.

Hermione and Ron knew about the prophecy, knew what it entailed. The thought that Harry had to either become a murderer or victim was not a good one. Being best friends with Harry Potter entailed enough worrying as it was, and having a prophecy for his doom to boot…well, they typically would rather not have to deal with that.

Harry on the other hand typically avoided talk of the prophecy if he could manage it. It haunted his thoughts enough as it was, to have someone bring it up in normal conversation made it much worse.

**Dumbledore had stopped walking, level with the church they had passed earlier.**

"**This will do, Harry. If you will grasp my arm."**

**Braced this time, Harry was ready for the Apparition, but still found it unpleasant. When the pressure disappeared and he found****himself able to breathe again, he was standing in a country lane beside Dumbledore and looking ahead to the crooked silhouette of his second favorite building in the world: the Burrow. In spite of the feeling of dread that had just swept through him, his spirits could not help but lift at the sight of it. Ron was in there … and so was Mrs. Weasley, who could cook better than anyone he knew. …**

Ron grinned at Harry at that, and Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not one of the things that you look forward to when coming over to our house Potter?"

Harry looked uncomfortable, "Well, this was before we started dating, before I started liking you anyways…"

The others laughed as Harry trailed off with a look of apprehension at Ginny, who grinned cheekily at him.

"**If you don't mind, Harry," said Dumbledore, as they passed through the gate, "I'd like a few words with you before we part. In private. Perhaps in here?"**

**Dumbledore pointed toward a run-down stone outhouse where the Weasleys kept their broomsticks. **

Ron looked at Harry quizzically, "You talked to Dumbledore in our _broomshed_?"

Harry nodded with a chuckle.

**A little puzzled, Harry fol lowed Dumbledore through the creaking door into a space a little smaller than the average cupboard. Dumbledore illuminated the tip of his wand, so that it glowed like a torch, and smiled down at Harry.**

"**I hope you will forgive me for mentioning it, Harry, but I am pleased and a little proud at how well you seem to be coping after everything that happened at the Ministry. Permit me to say that I think Sirius would have been proud of you."**

**Harry swallowed; his voice seemed to have deserted him. He did not think he could stand to discuss Sirius; it had been painful enough to hear Uncle Vernon say "His godfather's dead?" and even worse to hear Sirius's name thrown out casually by Slughorn.**

"**It was cruel," said Dumbledore softly, "that you and Sirius had such a short time together. A brutal ending to what should have been a long and happy relationship."**

The room was once again filled with sad looks at this.

**Harry nodded, his eyes fixed resolutely on the spider now climb ing Dumbledore's hat. He could tell that Dumbledore understood,****that he might even suspect that until his letter arrived, Harry had spent nearly all his time at the Dursleys' lying on his bed, refusing meals, and staring at the misted window, full of the chill emptiness that he had come to associate with dementors.**

"Harry," said Hermione softly, but he expertly avoided her gaze.

"**It's just hard," Harry said finally, in a low voice, "to realize he won't write to me again."**

**His eyes burned suddenly and he blinked. He felt stupid for ad mitting it, but the fact that he had had someone outside Hogwarts who cared what happened to him, almost like a parent, had been one of the best things about discovering his godfather … and now the post owls would never bring him that comfort again. …**

They all gave Harry sympathetic looks, while he avoided all of their gazes.

"**Sirius represented much to you that you had never known before," said Dumbledore gently. "Naturally, the loss is devastat ing. …"**

"**But while I was at the Dursleys' …" interrupted Harry, his voice growing stronger, "I realized I can't shut myself away or — or crack up. Sirius wouldn't have wanted that, would he? And anyway, life's too short. … Look at Madam Bones, look at Emmeline Vance. … It could be me next, couldn't it? But if it is," he said fiercely, now looking straight into Dumbledore's blue eyes gleam ing in the wandlight, "I'll make sure I take as many Death Eaters with me as I can, and Voldemort too if I can manage it."**

Lily gave a sad smile at that, while James beamed at his son once again, though this time his hazel eyes seemed sad. He was proud that his son was brave enough to come to that conclusion, but he was sad that his only son would have to think like that at the age of 16. James' childhood had been fairly peaceful, even with the war raging in the wizarding world. It wasn't until after Hogwarts that he had joined the war effort, and really experienced the horrors. But his son had had to grow up without his parents, and from the sounds of things so far, he had not had a peaceful stint at Hogwarts either. He really hated that fact.

"**Spoken both like your mother and father's son and Sirius's true godson!" **

The mentioned people and Remus grinned.

**said Dumbledore, with an approving pat on Harry's back. "I take my hat off to you — or I would, if I were not afraid of showering you in spiders.**

Ron shuddered, and then scowled at the laughter from his friends, and some of the people from the past who had joined in.

"**And now, Harry, on a closely related subject****… I gather that you have been taking the **_**Daily Prophet**_** over the last two weeks?"**

"**Yes," said Harry, and his heart beat a little faster.**

"**Then you will have seen that there have been not so much leaks as floods concerning your adventure in the Hall of Prophecy?"**

"**Yes," said Harry again. "And now everyone knows that I'm the one —"**

"**No, they do not," interrupted Dumbledore. "There are only two people in the whole world who know the full contents of the prophecy made about you and Lord Voldemort, and they are both standing in this smelly, spidery broom shed. It is true, however, that many have guessed, correctly, that Voldemort sent his Death Eaters to steal a prophecy, and that the prophecy concerned you.**

"**Now, I think I am correct in saying that you have not told any body that you know what the prophecy said?"**

"**No," said Harry.**

"**A wise decision, on the whole," said Dumbledore. "Although I think you ought to relax it in favor of your friends, Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger. **

Hermione and Ron looked at Harry with raised eyebrows.

"Dumbledore told you to tell us?" questioned Ron.

"Yes," said Harry sheepishly.

"You weren't going to tell them?" Ginny asked incredulously.

Harry looked down at the carpet as he replied, "I didn't want them to be scared. I was scared enough as it was, I did not need them to be scared as well."

Hermione looked at him incredulously.

"Well what did you think we were going to do –abandon you? Harry as I've said before, we've had plenty of time to do that before, and we never have. You can tell us anything," she said with an air of finality, and Ron nodded vigorously besides her.

Harry smiled at the both of them, and Lily smiled at the scene. Seeing as she, James, and Sirius were not able to be there for Harry, she was really glad he had good friends to be there for him, no matter what.

**Yes," he continued, when Harry looked startled, "I think they ought to know. You do them a disservice by not confiding something this important to them."**

"**I didn't want —"**

"— **to worry or frighten them?" said Dumbledore, surveying Harry over the top of his half-moon spectacles. "Or perhaps, to confess that you yourself are worried and frightened? You need your friends, Harry. As you so rightly said, Sirius would not have wanted you to shut yourself away."**

"See, Dumbledore agrees with us."

This earned Ron a smack on the head from his best mate.

**Harry said nothing, but Dumbledore did not seem to require an answer. He continued, "On a different, though related, subject, it is my wish that you take private lessons with me this year."**

"**Private — with you?" said Harry, surprised out of his preoccu pied silence.**

"**Yes. I think it is time that I took a greater hand in your educa tion."**

"**What will you be teaching me, sir?"**

"**Oh, a little of this, a little of that," said Dumbledore airily.**

"Wicked," said James in awe.

**Harry waited hopefully, but Dumbledore did not elaborate, so he asked something else that had been bothering him slightly.**

"**If I'm having lessons with you, I won't have to do Occlumency lessons with Snape, will I?"**

"_**Professor **_**Snape, Harry**

"Bloody hell! That git's a professor? What is the world coming too?"

"Sirius, Voldemort has risen again and is after my son. I think that Severus being a professor is not the worst of our concerns at the moment."

Sirius looked over at Lily sheepily.

— **and no, you will not."**

"**Good," said Harry in relief, "because they were a —"**

**He stopped, careful not to say what he really thought.**

"**I think the word 'fiasco' would be a good one here," said Dum bledore, nodding.**

Everyone laughed.

"That bad huh?" chuckled Remus.

Ron rolled his eyes, "Basically, anything that puts Harry and Snape in the same room together has the potential to become a fiasco."

"Ah," said Sirius dramatically with a hand to his heart, "a true maurader's son."

Lily rolled her eyes at that.

**Harry laughed.**

"**Well, that means I won't see much of Professor Snape from now on," he said, "because he won't let me carry on Potions unless I get 'Outstanding' in my O.W.L., which I know I haven't."**

"**Don't count your owls before they are delivered," said Dumble dore gravely. "Which, now I think of it, ought to be some time later today. Now, two more things, Harry, before we part.**

"**Firstly, I wish you to keep your Invisibility Cloak with you at all times from this moment onward. Even within Hogwarts itself. Just in case, you understand me?"**

**Harry nodded.**

"**And lastly, while you stay here, the Burrow has been given the****highest security the Ministry of Magic can provide. These measures have caused a certain amount of inconvenience to Arthur and Molly — all their post, for instance, is being searched at the Min istry before being sent on. They do not mind in the slightest, for their only concern is your safety. However, it would be poor repay ment if you risked your neck while staying with them."**

"**I understand," said Harry quickly.**

"**Very well, then," said Dumbledore, pushing open the broom shed door and stepping out into the yard. "I see a light in the kitchen. Let us not deprive Molly any longer of the chance to de plore how thin you are."**

Lily eyed her son critically, "Well, you are rather thin," Harry refrained from rolling his eyes with difficulty while the other three snickered, "and that's the end of the chapter.

"So," began Sirius with a mischievous look, "you all have some 'splaning to do."


	7. Chapter Five: An Excess of Phlegm

**A/N: **Another chapter! And believe me when I say I have been working on this since I posted the last one, especially in the past few days. But nearly 14000 words! And over half of those are mine! 7781 to be exact. I tried to do the describing the year thing, and will continue to do that, but from now on, I think they will be much more summation, because doing this one nearly killed me, or at least put me off the story.

That being said, while I do enjoy this story, there are others I am working on that I an enjoying much more, so I apologize in advance if there is another mamouth gap between chapters. However, I haev been working very hard on some new stories that I hope you will all love, and some of which will hopefully be posted within the week. One is a collection of missing moments, which I have wanted to do for a while. Most of them seem to be Ron-centered, because I seem to really have taken a liking to him. That, and I really love his character, and think that it all the better for his flaws, and I am fed up with all of the Ron bashing that you find in fics. It truly disgusts me. So therefore, not only are many of my missing moments concerning Ron, but the other story I have been working on for long time and I absolutely love is a Ron and Arthur fic. I hope that everyone else will enjoy it as much as I do.

In other news, I will be studying abroad this semester. So I will be in Spain for 3 months, beginning in mid-September. I'm not really sure how this will effect my schedule yet, so I can't really say too much for the affect on my updates. Just remember that I will never give up on my stories, so updates will always come, and I will always try to make them worth the wait.

Enjoy!

Sincerely, EmeraldFire512

**Chapter Five:**

**An Excess of Phlegm**

"_you all have some 'splaning to do…"_

The four from the future looked at each other and back at the others who were looking on expectantly.

"I don't even really know where to begin." Harry began nervously.

"What do you all want to know?" queried Hermione.

"What has happened throughout your school years…"

"How you all met."

"How I ended up in Azkaban…"

"How he escaped…"

"Your first year would probably be best." Sirius decided with an air of finality.

"Well," Harry started, deciding to skip the Dursleys altogether, "I got my letter and took the train from 9 ¾."

"Which is where we met," Grinned Ron, clapping Harry on the shoulder.

"Technically it is where we all met," Corrected Hermione.

"Yeah, well you were a right annoying know it all, and Ginny was a bit of a fan girl…"

"Ron!"

"Well it's true Gin. That is exactly what you sounded like. Point is, I was the only one that Harry actually made friends with that trip."

Harry chuckled at the exchange before carrying on with the tale, "Yes, the train is where Ron and I met. I also met Hermione, but she did come off a bit strong, so we didn't exactly start off on the right foot."

"If I recall correctly, I'm not the only one that you two started off on the wrong foot with."

"Right. Ron and I were in our compartment when Draco Malfoy," the distaste was almost tangible as Harry spoke, "and his two cronies came in. Basically, he tried to sell himself as a good person to be seen with, insulted the entire Weasley family, almost started a fight with us, and made a lifelong enemy all in a five minute period."

"Lucius Malfoy's son?" asked Sirius.

"The same."

"Then he has to be a git," decided James.

"He is," Ginny confirmed.

"So we arrived at Hogwarts," Harry continued, "went through the sorting…"

"What houses are you all in?"

"Gryffindor," they all said in harmony. Lily and James beamed proudly at their son while Sirius gave Ron a hi-five and Remus grinned at Hermione. After a few moments, Hermione continued the story. She had a feeling that the two boys might forget to remember the warning Dumbledore gave at the feast:

"So after the sorting and food, we met Nearly Headless Nick and Dumbledore made his typical announcements. The forest is forbidden, no magic in the corridors, and the third floor corridor is out of bounds. Then we all went to bed for the night."

"The next day classes started," Ron continued, as Hermione didn't know anything else that happened up until the dueling disaster; at least not first hand. "We went through all of the classes. They were all great, same professors as always, except for the DADA professor who was as skittish as a canary, and Snape, who was a git. We figured out he hated Harry real fast."

"And why would that be," Lily asked with a pointed glare at her husband. He had been quite an arse to Snape when they were all in school, and now it seemed like that was coming back to haunt their son. Though she hoped that perhaps their friendship would have tempered that a bit, it would seem that that was not the case.

Harry answered her question, but gave her a curious look first. He thought for sure that she should have known that all though she may have stood up for Snape, James had been too much of an enemy for any of that to go away, "he thought that because of my 'fame', and Dad's genes, that I was arrogant, insolent, and self-centered. He often goes out of his way to prove that, and to treat me how an 'impartial' teacher should, because he is convinced that all of the other teachers like me too much, and are not hard enough."

Sirius looked appalled, "even McGonagall?" he asked incredulously.

Ron chuckled at the look on his face, "Well McGonnagall's a special case isn't she? There is really no way anyone can ever accuse her of being laid back. Though she definitely likes us, or else we would have been expelled so many times. Anyways, yes Snape's a git which we all know, and his class went horribly. But soon it was time for our first flying lesson. Harry here had never been on a broom before, and, when we met on the train," he paused for dramatic effect, ignoring Harry's rolled eyes, "he had never heard of quidditch."

James' eyes widened and Sirius had a sharp intake of breath. James looked like he was on the edge of hyperventilation and Sirius sputtered, "but he does now, right?"

Harry rolled his eyes again, "yes, I do now."

James recovered enough to talk and looked desperately at his son, "but…you play quidditch…don't you?"

Harry just laughed and gestured for Ron to continue. He was going to enjoy watching his father's reactions to this story.

Ron noticed the cue from Harry and continued with the story, "so anyways, fist flying lesson. Malfoy had been teasing Neville Longbottom, one of our friends who is quite clumsy and really can't fly to save his life…"

"Ron!"

"Hermione, I'm not trying to be mean. You know I like Neville, and he says all of that himself, because it's true. Anyways, we all started to get ready to take off to hover, and Neville got a little overexcited, took off early and fell. Madame Hooch left to take him to the hospital wing, saying that "anyone caught flying before she got back would be expelled before they could say quidditch."

"Malfoy had taken Neville's rembrall and had flown off with it. So of course Harry had to fly after him to get it back."

"Of course I did! So anyways, I went after him, which surprised him, it was my first time on a broom, and then he threw it. So I dove after it."

"Did you catch it?" James asked excitedly.

Harry grinned and nodded, while Ron extrapolated, "He caught it alright, after a 50 foot drive, them McGonagall came out and Harry thought he was going to be expelled."

"You thought that too! You tried to reason with her. So yes, I thought I was going to be expelled, and was panicking about that, but instead she took me to meet Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditich team."

James and Sirius were nearly bouncing in anticipation, excited for what they were sure was to come. But Harry was not forth coming; instead he seemed to be enjoying the suspense. Hermione rolled her eyes at her best friend's antics. She took pity on James and Sirius, but she had no idea what was going on at this point in the story. Thus James and Sirius would have to be left at the mercy of Harry and Ron. A few moments alter however, Harry seemed to have had his fill of their antics, and continued the story.

"When Wood came out of the classroom he had been in, she told him that she had found him a seeker."

There was a moment of stunned silence and anticipation before it was shattered by James;

"Bloody hell! You made the team in you _first_ year? You must have been the youngest seeker in a…"

"Century. According to McGonagall," Ron supplied with a grin at Harry.

Sirius was still silent, opening and closing his mouth like a fish, while Remus laughed at his friends' antics. Lily beamed at her son. She was proud of him for getting the spot, but wished he hadn't broken the rules to get it. Though, she supposed it was standing up for a friend, so it was a good cause.

The next half hour or so was spent discussing all of the matches that year in great detail, though they had to take a few minute break for Sirius to calm down enough to breathe after hearing about Hermione lighting Snape on fire during the first match. Lily had other concerns with this matter though,

"Why was anybody, no matter if it were Severus or someone else, trying to jinx Harry's broomstick?"

"It was all part of the overall plot of the year," Harry said by way of explaining.

After the quidditch talk was done they moved on. They talked about their encounter with the faked midnight duel, the three-headed dog in the forbidden corridor, Hagrid's slip and their search for Nicholas Flamel. When they got to Christmas, the cloak, and the mirror, they had to pause for a few moments. There was a lot more explaining to do here, as neither Hermione or Ginny knew about the mirror at all. James and Lily grew somber as they realized the first time their son had seen them – that he remembered – was in a mirror, one that showed your greatest desire. Lily also wondered about the fact that he hadn't known what they looked like at all. Surely Petunia had kept _one _picture of her. James was lamenting that his son's life was not carefree. His heart's desire was to see his family again, not to be a quidditch star or any of the other things 11 year olds dream of.

Sirius and Remus looked at each other and wondered if they would have both seen the same thing; James and Lily alive again. They both decided that they probably would have. James, Lily, and soon to be Harry were the best and truest family either of them had ever known. Remus thought that maybe them living would trump even being cured for him, which before this would have unquestionably been his greatest desire.

Hermione placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. She knew that seeing that must have been hard for him, knowing that really there was no way for him to actually see them again. Ginny on the other hand was studying her brother. Harry had mentioned that he had looked into the mirror, but not what he had seen. The Ron was acting now, looking down at the carpet with a frown on his face, made her wonder what it was that he had seen that would still make him look like this five years later. She decided to ask him later, or perhaps just ask Harry, because she doubted Ron would actually tell her.

"Hang on a second," Remus said once Harry began to speak again, "When did you three become friends? You haven't mentioned that yet."

Both Ron and Harry broke into huge grins and Hermione smiled and started to speak. Finally, something that she knew all of the details to; "Well that happened on Halloween. You see, we were levitating feathers in Charms that day, and Ron and I ended up partnered. I was being a bit of a know-it-all…"

Ron looked like he really wanted to make some sort of comment about that, but apparently decided that he should probably remain silently, especially with how he was going to be acting in Hermione's story in just a little bit.

"…and Ron was getting frustrated with me, and the charm. So class ended and we all left and I was walking behind Harry and Ron when I heard him say, 'She's a nightmare honestly. It's no wonder she hasn't got any friends.'" She said it quite non-chalantly, but it was quite clear to everybody in the room that those words still hurt her. Just as clear as Ron's shame was. When everybody turned to look at him he turned as red as his hair and looked absolutely miserable, not to mention wary. Especially as he noticed his sister's hand twitching to her wand. He turned to Hermione; "Hermione, have I ever said how sorry I was about that? I know we weren't friends yet, and you know I didn't mean any of it, but it was all completely out of line, I was just being a bitter immature 11 year old, but have I actually ever said sorry?"

"Yes you have," she responded with a wan smile, "but it never hurts to hear it again."

He nodded, "Hermione Granger, I am really, really sorry for that horrible thing that I said 5 years ago."

She smiled back at him, "Thank you Ron, but I would really hope that you are not _that _sorry for it. Because if you had never said that, they nothing else that happened that night may have happened, and then who knows how long it would have taken us to become friends. Anyways, I heard him say that, and was understandably upset, and ran off to the girl's toilet. I hid in there for the rest of the day."

At this point Ron took over, because Hermione didn't know what was going on in the rest of the school while she had been locked in the girl's toilet. "Right. So while Hermione was…occupied, Harry and I went on with the rest of our day. Later on we heard Hermione's dorm mates say that she was in the toilet and wouldn't come out, and I felt really bad about that, but had no idea what I could do about it. So we, Harry and I went down to the feast. It was fantastic at first, but then out DADA professor ran in to the Great Hall, yelling about a troll in the dungeon. So we were all evacuated back to our dormitories…"

"Slytherins went to the library." Hermione interrupted, answering Lily's unasked question.

"Yeah, the Slytherins went to the library, and we were heading back to the tower when Harry remembered Hermione. She didn't know about the troll. So the two of us ran off to find her. Unfortunately, we found the troll first. So we thought we'd be clever and lock it into the room it was in."

"It was the girls toilet wasn't it," Lily asked with a sigh.

"Yes, yes it was."

Lily shook her head exasperatedly, "Murphy's law."

Hermione gave her a wry grin, "Murphy's law really hates us."

"Anyways," Ron continued, "yes, we had just locked Hermione into the toilet with the troll. Which we realized when we heard a scream. So, ran back to the bathroom and found Hermione backed up against the sinks with a troll about to attack her. So Harry decided that our best course of action would be to distract it, and picked up things to start throwing at it. So I grabbed a piece of pipe and hit it in the head while calling it pea brain, which effectively made it turn its attention to me. Then Harry, in a fit of infinite wisdom, jumped up onto its back and shoved his wand up its nose. So it started thrashing around trying to squish the midget on its back ("I am not a midget" Harry muttered), and said midget, give it a rest mate, you were scrawny at 11. Not much better now, but at least a little taller. Anyways, _Harry _was yelling at me to do something, so I pulled out my wand and said the only spell I knew, even if I couldn't do it. But pressure apparently works in my favor because I managed to levitate its club, and knock it out with it. Then Hermione lied to McGonagall to get Harry and me out of trouble, and thus began a wonderful friendship."

Lily looked at the three of them for several minutes before she managed to sputter, "You fought a _troll_ in your _first _year?"

James' mouth was twitching as he tried not to let his wife see him smile, and Remus was struggling to contain his laughter. Sirius on the other hand was having no such problems. He was laughing uproariously and between gasps he said, "It took…fighting a…troll…for you three…to become…friends?"

The trio chuckled, and Ginny smiled at them fondly. She occasionally wished that she could be as close to them as they all were to each other, but now that she had heard the full story of the beginning of their friendship, she realized that that would never happen. She was as close as any outsider could get; she was dating Harry, sister to Ron, and best female friend to Hermione, but there would always be a missing link between them because of what they had all been through together over the years. The troll may have only been a minor incidence – which should say something on its own – but it was still indicative of what they had gone through over the years.

Eventually they all calmed down and got back to the story. They told of finding Nicholas Flamel – on a chocolate frog card of all places – and of Norbert. There was a certain amount of panic from Lily at this, and from Ginny when she learned that her brother had been bit by a dragon, but they both calmed down and the story moved on.

Then they talked about the year ending, the Gryffindors not speaking to them because of the lost points, detention in the forest, and eventually the end of exams and their journey after the stone. There was a certain amount of muttering at the fact that Dumbledore was gone and McGonagall didn't listen to them.

"…and then they both decided they were going with me. No matter what," Harry stated, smiling over at his two best friends.

"Well," Hermione teased, "I don't think it was anything nearly so eloquent. If I recall correctly, Ron asked if the cloak would cover all three of us."

"And I distinctly remember you muttering on about what books you wanted to consult before we went on, and then saying something about getting a 112 percent on your charms exam. But yeah, Hermione and me went with him. We weren't going to let him go on his own, he would've never made it."

Harry rolled his eyes at Ron, but he knew, as did Ron, that what he said was truer than anyone else could possibly know. The three of them always needed each other. When even one was gone, they were extremely crippled. Harry pushed on with the story, "So we waited for everyone to go to bed, and then went to sneak out. We were stopped by Neville however, who decided to take it upon himself to see that we didn't lose anymore points. So after a bit of argument, Hermione put a full body bind on him and we left him on the common room floor. Not a very good start."

There were a few mumurs of agreement before Ron continued, "So we left, ran into Peeves, Harry got rid of him with the most brilliant lie ever, claiming to be the Bloody Baron. The look on his face; Priceless."

There was a brief pause in which James sniffled and threw an arm around Harry's shoulders and said in a mock-thick voice, "I am so proud." Ron grinned at the exchange, and especially at the look of wonder on Harry's face. He had never been praised by a parent before.

Ron paused for another few moments for before continuing, allowing his best mate to enjoy the moment, "So we got through without getting caught, made it to the corridor, got inside, and Harry used a flute Hagrid had given him for Christmas to put Fluffy to sleep. Then we opened the trapdoor, and he offered to let us go back again, and we told him we were here, and we weren't going anywhere else unless he was. So he went down first, I followed, and then Hermione. Now Harry and I had been too busy making sure that Hermione got down alright that we weren't paying attention to our situation, but it turns out that we had landed in Devil's Snare. She got out of it, but Harry and I were wrapped too tight, so she was trying to remember how to get rid of it."

Hermione decided to take over here, effectively cutting off anything Ron may have said about her forgetting that she was a witch; "So I remembered that it hated sunlight, and Harry told me to make a fire. But I said that there was no wood," she admitted, a blush creeping up her checks. Lily smiled at her sympathetically. It had taken her a very long time to remember that she had magic in times of panic. Whenever she was in a stressful situation, she had originally reverted back to muggle thinking, because it was what she was most comfortable with. It had only been the past few years, since leaving Hogwarts and joining the Order, that she had gotten over that: when you got in a tight spot with a Death Eater, thinking like a muggle was unlikely to so you any good. Lily tuned back in once Hermione continued, "but Ron reminded me that I was a witch, and we moved on from there. The next room – the whole protection to the stone was basically a magical obstacle course – was full of what looked like birds, but were actually keys. We had to find the one that would open up the door at the end of the room. So we used the brooms that were in there, cornered it, Harry caught it, and then we moved on to the next room."

She paused here, because next up was the chess room, and that had been the worst part of the whole experience. She knew it hadn't been any better for Harry, and Ron most likely didn't want to talk about it, so decided to continue talking, "The next room was a giant chess set, where we had to be chessmen and play across the room. Or course Ron took over, so we were winning and he was keeping us all safe. After playing for a while, Ron studied the board and decided that the only way for us to win was for him to sacrifice himself." Hermione stopped here and closed her eyes. At 12 years old, seeing Ron decide to do that had been amazing and terrifying all at the same time. It still would terrify her now, but they had been through so much more and she had seen more. Still, she tried to block the image of Ron's still form from her mind as she continued the story, "so of course Harry and I fought him about it, but he fought back, with a damn good speech about sacrifice actually. So he moved forward to check the king, and the queen hit him across the head," she was trying to hold back tears at this point, "and he fell to the ground. Harry moved forward and won the game. So we left the room."

Ginny looked at her friend incredulously, "You just left him there, unconscious on the floor?" Before Hermione could respond at all, Ron spoke up, "Ginny, I told them to go on. That's why I did it, so they could go on and get the stone. What good would them hanging around me have done? I was unconscious, I didn't know the difference."

Ginny glared at her brother but didn't press the issue. She knew he was right. She just didn't like to think about her brother's tendency to sacrifice himself for others. It was the thing that worried her most about him going off on the god forsaken mission with Harry and Hermione.

She listened vaguely as Hermione explained about thee potion room, and then left Harry on his own and went back to Ron. She heard Harry talk about Quirrel and the mirror and the aftermath, she listened to the exclamations and oaths from the four from the past. She heard Harry launch into the aftermath, winning the house cup, and leaving for the summer. She heard everything that was going on, but all the while she was watching the trio. Her worries about Ron had reminder her that when they got back to their time, they had to leave on a perilous mission. Being here, not in the middle of their war, had allowed her to forget. But now she had reminded herself, and was back to the worry. She vowed though as she heard Harry finish up, that she would find out what was up before they left this time. Whether it was through the books or she finally got them to tell her, she didn't care, but she felt that that was the least she could do since there was no way she would be allowed to accompany them. She exited her reverie with a smile on her face from her new plan in time to see that James had taken the book and was now beginning to read.

**Harry and Dumbledore approached the back door of the Burrow, which was surrounded by the familiar litter of old Wellington boots and rusty cauldrons; Harry could hear the soft clucking of sleepy chickens coming from a distant shed. Dum bledore knocked three times and Harry saw sudden movement be hind the kitchen window.**

"**Who's there?" said a nervous voice he recognized as Mrs. Weasley's. "Declare yourself!"**

"**It is I, Dumbledore, bringing Harry."**

**The door opened at once. There stood Mrs. Weasley, short, plump, and wearing an old green dressing gown.**

"**Harry, dear! Gracious, Albus, you gave me a fright, you said not to expect you before morning!"**

"**We were lucky," said Dumbledore, ushering Harry over the threshold. "Slughorn proved much more persuadable than I had expected. Harry's doing, of course. Ah, hello, Nymphadora!"**

Sirius perked up. "Nymphadora? As in my favorite little cousin?"

**Harry looked around and saw that Mrs. Weasley was not alone, despite the lateness of the hour. A young witch with a pale, heart-shaped face and mousy brown hair was sitting at the table clutch ing a large mug between her hands.**

Sirius frowned. That doesn't sound like the Dora he knew. She is never mousy brown; bubble-gum pink is her favorite way to wear her hair.

"**Hello, Professor," she said. "Wotcher, Harry."**

"**Hi, Tonks."**

**Harry thought she looked drawn, even ill, and there was some thing forced in her smile. Certainly her appearance was less color ful than usual without her customary shade of bubble-gum-pink hair.**

Well that settled it beyond a doubt. "What's wrong with Dora?" Sirius questioned the four from the future.

"She was upset about something that we can't explain yet, but you will find out before the end of the book."

"**I'd better be off," she said quickly, standing up and pulling her cloak around her shoulders. "Thanks for the tea and sympathy, Molly."**

"**Please don't leave on my account," said Dumbledore courte ously, "I cannot stay, I have urgent matters to discuss with Rufus Scrimgeour."**

"**No, no, I need to get going," said Tonks, not meeting Dum bledore's eyes. " 'Night —"**

"**Dear, why not come to dinner at the weekend, Remus **

Sirius grinned at the mention of future Remus.

**and Mad-Eye are coming — ?"**

"Moony, we get to meet you soon!" exclaimed Sirius with delight, leaning over to high five James. Remus smiled at the pair of them. He was very interested to see what would happen to him in the future, especially as he was now the last surviving Marauder.

"**No, really, Molly … thanks anyway … Good night, every one.**

**Tonks hurried past Dumbledore and Harry into the yard; a few paces beyond the doorstep, she turned on the spot and vanished into thin air. Harry noticed that Mrs. Weasley looked troubled.**

Sirius frowned. It seemed as if there was something wrong with Dora, something significant enough that she was letting it effect her adversely. He really hoped that it resolved itself soon, he hated hearing about his little cousin being upset.

In the meantime, the four from the future were trying to hide their grins as they knew what was going on with Tonks. It would be interesting to see everyone's reactions to that news.

"**Well, I shall see you at Hogwarts, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Take care of yourself. Molly, your servant."**

**He made Mrs. Weasley a bow and followed Tonks, vanishing at precisely the same spot. **

Lily nodded her head, "Apparition point."

James raised an eyebrow at her, "You don't say."

Lily rolled her eyes at her husband and returned to the story.

**Mrs. Weasley closed the door on the empty****yard and then steered Harry by the shoulders into the full glow of the lantern on the table to examine his appearance.**

"**You're like Ron," she sighed, looking him up and down. "Both of you look as though you've had Stretching Jinxes put on you. I swear Ron's grown four inches since I last bought him school robes. Are you hungry, Harry?"**

"**Yeah, I am," said Harry, suddenly realizing just how hungry he was.**

"**Sit down, dear, I'll knock something up."**

**As Harry sat down, a furry ginger cat with a squashed face jumped onto his knees and settled there, purring.**

"**So Hermione's here?" he asked happily as he tickled Crook shanks behind the ears.**

"Your cat?" Remus asked Hermione.

She nodded and smiled, "part kneazle."

"Part _evil_." Ron muttered under his breath, only loud enough for Harry to hear.

"**Oh yes, she arrived the day before yesterday," said Mrs. Weas ley, rapping a large iron pot with her wand. It bounced onto the stove with a loud clang and began to bubble at once. "Everyone's in bed, of course, we didn't expect you for hours. Here you are —"**

**She tapped the pot again; it rose into the air, flew toward Harry, and tipped over; Mrs. Weasley slid a bowl neatly beneath it just in time to catch the stream of thick, steaming onion soup.**

"**Bread, dear?"**

"**Thanks, Mrs. Weasley."**

**She waved her wand over her shoulder; a loaf of bread and a knife soared gracefully onto the table; as the loaf sliced itself and the soup pot dropped back onto the stove, Mrs. Weasley sat down opposite him.**

"**So you persuaded Horace Slughorn to take the job?"**

**Harry nodded, his mouth so full of hot soup that he could not speak.**

"**He taught Arthur and me," said Mrs. Weasley. "He was at Hog warts for ages, started around the same time as Dumbledore, I think. Did you like him?"**

**His mouth now full of bread, Harry shrugged and gave a non committal jerk of the head.**

"**I know what you mean," said Mrs. Weasley, nodding wisely. "Of course he can be charming when he wants to be, but Arthur's never liked him much. The Ministry's littered with Slughorn's old favorites, he was always good at giving leg ups, but he never had much time for Arthur — didn't seem to think he was enough of a highflier.**

Ron smiled. He had never heard that before. If his father had not been a member of a Slug Club, then Ron was proud to say that he was not either. His father may not have succeed in the conventional ways, but he was a good man who took care of his family the best that he could, and a talented wizard. Not only that, but he had succeeded without the help of 'Old Sluggy'.

**Well, that just shows you, even Slughorn makes mistakes. I don't know whether Ron's told you in any of his letters — it's only just happened — but Arthur's been promoted!"**

**It could not have been clearer that Mrs. Weasley had been burst ing to say this.**

**Harry swallowed a large amount of very hot soup and thought he could feel his throat blistering. "That's great!" he gasped.**

"**You are sweet," beamed Mrs. Weasley, possibly taking his wa tering eyes for emotion at the news.**

Ginny giggled, "You're probably right. She is always saying that you are 'such a sweet and considerate boy'."

"**Yes, Rufus Scrimgeour has set up several new offices in response to the present situation, and Arthur's heading the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects. It's a big job, he's got ten people reporting to him now!"**

James smiled, "Good for him!" He had always liked Arthur, who was at Hogwarts with them for a year before graduating. Nowadays he saw him occasionally with stuff pertaining to the Order, even though Arthur was not an enlisted member, he still dropped by with information from within the ministry and helped out in a few battles. He refused to fully join, though Dumbledore had asked him several times, because he had a family of little ones at home. He said that he didn't want to risk making his family a target. He and Molly already had five young sons, and when James had seen her a few weeks ago…

His thoughts trailed off as he came to a realization. He looked across the coffee table to the young red head sitting next to his son. He continued to gaze at Ron, failing to notice that he had noticed and was now looking uncomfortably at James, or that Lily was trying to get his attention. He finally noticed when a pillow came flying at him from his left peripheral.

"Padfoot! What the bloody hell was that for?"

"You have been staring at Ron over there for at least an entire minute now. Would you like to enlighten the rest of us? Or have just been looking for another red-headed lover?"

Lily huffed and Ron turned redder at the last comment.

James glared and through the pillow back at him before responding, "I was just thinking about Arthur and the last time I saw him and Molly. She was pregnant, due in a few months. Then I just realized…"

Lily finished his thought for him an amused smile on her face, "realized the time period and put some things together?"

"Exactly."

Ron looked between the two of them, still confused, "I still don't understand what ay of this has to do with me."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him, "Seriously Ron, think about it. What year were you born in?"

"1980...oh."

James nodded, "which is when I thought, dear sweet Merlin this is strange. I just saw your pregnant mother a few weeks ago, and here you are in front of me, clearly quite a few years older. Time travel really messes with your head."

They all nodded in silent agreement and were silent for another moment before James continued to read.

"**What exactly — ?"**

"**Well, you see, in all the panic about You-Know-Who, odd things have been cropping up for sale everywhere, things that are supposed to guard against You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters. You can imagine the kind of thing — so-called protective potions that are really gravy with a bit of bubotuber pus added, or instruc tions for defensive jinxes that actually make your ears fall off. … Well, in the main the perpetrators are just people like Mundungus Fletcher, who've never done an honest day's work in their lives and are taking advantage of how frightened everybody is, but every now and then something really nasty turns up. The other day Arthur confiscated a box of cursed Sneakoscopes that were almost certainly planted by a Death Eater. So you see, it's a very important job, and I tell him it's just silly to miss dealing with spark plugs and toasters and all the rest of that Muggle rubbish." Mrs. Weasley ended her speech with a stern look, as if it had been Harry suggest ing that it was natural to miss spark plugs.**

"**Is Mr. Weasley still at work?" Harry asked.**

"**Yes, he is. As a matter of fact, he's a tiny bit late. … He said he'd be back around midnight. …"**

**She turned to look at a large clock that was perched awkwardly on top of a pile of sheets in the washing basket at the end of the table. Harry recognized it at once: It had nine hands, each in scribed with the name of a family member, and usually hung on the Weasleys' sitting room wall, though its current position sug gested that Mrs. Weasley had taken to carrying it around the house with her. Every single one of its nine hands was now pointing at "mortal peril."**

"**It's been like that for a while now," said Mrs. Weasley, in an un convincingly casual voice, "ever since You-Know-Who came back into the open. I suppose everybody's in mortal danger now. … I don't think it can be just our family … but I don't know anyone else who's got a clock like this, so I can't check. **

Lily frowned. She felt extremely sorry for the Weasley matriarch, having so many of her loved ones in danger, especially since by the looks of things Molly had included Harry in that.

**Oh!"**

**With a sudden exclamation she pointed at the clock's face. Mr. Weasley's hand had switched to "traveling."**

"**He's coming!"**

**And sure enough, a moment later there was a knock on the back door. Mrs. Weasley jumped up and hurried to it; with one hand on the doorknob and her face pressed against the wood she called softly, "Arthur, is that you?"**

"**Yes," came Mr. Weasley's weary voice. "But I would say that even if I were a Death Eater, dear. Ask the question!"**

"**Oh, honestly …"**

"**Molly!"**

"**All right, all right****… What is your dearest ambition?"**

"**To find out how airplanes stay up."**

**Mrs. Weasley nodded and turned the doorknob, but apparently Mr. Weasley was holding tight to it on the other side, because the door remained firmly shut.**

"**Molly! I've got to ask you your question first!"**

"**Arthur, really, this is just silly. …"**

"**What do you like me to call you when we're alone together?"**

**Even by the dim light of the lantern Harry could tell that Mrs. Weasley had turned bright red; he himself felt suddenly warm around the ears and neck, and hastily gulped soup, clattering his spoon as loudly as he could against the bowl.**

"**Mollywobbles," whispered a mortified Mrs. Weasley into the crack at the edge of the door.**

"**Correct," said Mr. Weasley. "Now you can let me in."**

**Mrs. Weasley opened the door to reveal her husband, a thin, balding, red-haired wizard wearing horn-rimmed spectacles and a long and dusty traveling cloak.**

"**I still don't see why we have to go through that every time you come home," said Mrs. Weasley, still pink in the face as she helped****her husband out of his cloak. "I mean, a Death Eater might have forced the answer out of you before impersonating you!"**

"**I know, dear, but it's Ministry procedure, and I have to set an example. Something smells good — onion soup?"**

**Mr. Weasley turned hopefully in the direction of the table.**

"**Harry! We didn't expect you until morning!"**

**They shook hands, and Mr. Weasley dropped into the chair be side Harry as Mrs. Weasley set a bowl of soup in front of him too.**

"**Thanks, Molly. It's been a tough night. Some idiot's started sell ing Metamorph-Medals. Just sling them around your neck and you'll be able to change your appearance at will. A hundred thou sand disguises, all for ten Galleons!"**

"**And what really happens when you put them on?"**

"**Mostly you just turn a fairly unpleasant orange color, but a cou ple of people have also sprouted tentaclelike warts all over their bodies. As if St. Mungo's didn't have enough to do already!"**

"**It sounds like the sort of thing Fred and George would find funny," said Mrs. Weasley hesitantly. "Are you sure — ?"**

"**Of course I am!" said Mr. Weasley. "The boys wouldn't do any thing like that now, not when people are desperate for protection!"**

Both Ron and Ginny nodded in agreement with their father.

"**So is that why you're late, Metamorph-Medals?"**

"**No, we got wind of a nasty backfiring jinx down in Elephant and Castle, but luckily the Magical Law Enforcement Squad had sorted it out by the time we got there. …"**

**Harry stifled a yawn behind his hand.**

"**Bed," said an undeceived Mrs. Weasley at once. "I've got Fred and George's room all ready for you, you'll have it to yourself."**

"**Why, where are they?"**

"**Oh, they're in Diagon Alley, sleeping in the little flat over their****joke shop as they're so busy," said Mrs. Weasley. "I must say, I didn't approve at first, but they do seem to have a bit of a flair for business! Come on, dear, your trunk's already up there."**

Lily smiled at that. Yes, Molly had really adopted him as one of her own. She was extremely grateful for that and would have to find some way to thank her.

" '**Night, Mr. Weasley," said Harry, pushing back his chair. Crookshanks leapt lightly from his lap and slunk out of the room.**

"**G'night, Harry," said Mr. Weasley.**

**Harry saw Mrs. Weasley glance at the clock in the washing basket as they left the kitchen. All the hands were once again at "mortal peril."**

**Fred and George's bedroom was on the second floor. Mrs. Weas ley pointed her wand at a lamp on the bedside table and it ignited at once, bathing the room in a pleasant golden glow. Though a large vase of flowers had been placed on a desk in front of the small window, their perfume could not disguise the lingering smell of what Harry thought was gunpowder. A considerable amount of floor space was devoted to a vast number of unmarked, sealed card board boxes, amongst which stood Harry's school trunk. The room looked as though it was being used as a temporary warehouse.**

**Hedwig hooted happily at Harry from her perch on top of a large wardrobe, then took off through the window; Harry knew she had been waiting to see him before going hunting. Harry bade Mrs. Weasley good night, put on pajamas, and got into one of the beds. There was something hard inside the pillowcase. He groped inside it and pulled out a sticky purple-and-orange sweet, which he recognized as a Puking Pastille. Smiling to himself, he rolled over and was instantly asleep.**

**Seconds later, or so it seemed to Harry, he was awakened by what sounded like cannon fire as the door burst open. Sitting bolt upright, he heard the rasp of the curtains being pulled back: The****dazzling sunlight seemed to poke him hard in both eyes. Shielding them with one hand, he groped hopelessly for his glasses with the other.**

"**Wuzzgoinon?"**

"**We didn't know you were here already!" said a loud and excited voice, and he received a sharp blow to the top of the head.**

Ron grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that mate."

Harry chuckled, "Don't worry about it."

"**Ron, don't hit him!" said a girl's voice reproachfully.**

**Harry's hand found his glasses and he shoved them on, though the light was so bright he could hardly see anyway. A long, loom ing shadow quivered in front of him for a moment; he blinked and Ron Weasley came into focus, grinning down at him.**

"**All right?"**

"**Never been better," said Harry, rubbing the top of his head and slumping back onto his pillows. "You?"**

"**Not bad," said Ron, pulling over a cardboard box and sitting on it. "When did you get here? Mum's only just told us!"**

"**About one o'clock this morning."**

"**Were the Muggles all right? Did they treat you okay?"**

"**Same as usual," said Harry, as Hermione perched herself on the edge of his bed, "they didn't talk to me much, but I like it better that way. How're you, Hermione?"**

"**Oh, I'm fine," said Hermione, who was scrutinizing Harry as though he was sickening for something. He thought he knew what was behind this, and as he had no wish to discuss Sirius's death or any other miserable subject at the moment, he said, "What's the time? Have I missed breakfast?"**

"**Don't worry about that, Mum's bringing you up a tray; she reckons you look underfed," said Ron, rolling his eyes. "So, what's been going on?"**

"**Nothing much, I've just been stuck at my aunt and uncle's, haven't I?"**

"**Come off it!" said Ron. "You've been off with Dumbledore!"**

"**It wasn't that exciting. He just wanted me to help him persuade this old teacher to come out of retirement. His name's Horace Slughorn."**

"**Oh," said Ron, looking disappointed. "We thought —"**

**Hermione flashed a warning look at Ron, and Ron changed tack at top speed.**

"— **we thought it'd be something like that."**

Ginny laughed, "for Ron, that was very subtle. Unfortunately Harry knows him too well."

"**You did?" said Harry, amused.**

"**Yeah … yeah, now Umbridge has left, obviously we need a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, don't we?**

Remus looked startled, "But Slughorn teaches potions."

"Well we didn't know that yet."

**So, er, what's he like?"**

"**He looks a bit like a walrus, and he used to be Head of Slytherin," said Harry. "Something wrong, Hermione?"**

**She was watching him as though expecting strange symptoms to manifest themselves at any moment. She rearranged her features hastily in an unconvincing smile.**

"Again, probably just because Harry knows her so well."

"**No, of course not! So, um, did Slughorn seem like he'll be a good teacher?"**

"**Dunno," said Harry. "He can't be worse than Umbridge, can he?"**

"**I know someone who's worse than Umbridge," said a voice from the doorway. Ron's younger sister **

"Really Harry?"

"Well, you are."

Ginny raised her eyebrows at him and he sputtered, "Er…were?"

She grinned as he heaved a sigh of relief.

**slouched into the room, looking irritable. "Hi, Harry."**

"**What's up with you?" Ron asked.**

"**It's **_**her,**_**" said Ginny, plonking herself down on Harry's bed. "She's driving me mad."**

"**What's she done now?" asked Hermione sympathetically.**

"**It's the way she talks to me — you'd think I was about three!"**

"**I know," said Hermione, dropping her voice. "She's so full of herself."**

**Harry was astonished to hear Hermione talking about Mrs. Weasley like this and could not blame Ron for saying angrily, "Can't you two lay off her for five seconds?"**

"**Oh, that's right, defend her," snapped Ginny. "We all know you can't get enough of her."**

**This seemed an odd comment to make about Ron's mother. Starting to feel that he was missing something, Harry said, "Who are you — ?"**

**But his question was answered before he could finish it. The bedroom door flew open again, and Harry instinctively yanked the bedcovers up to his chin so hard that Hermione and Ginny slid off the bed onto the floor.**

**A young woman was standing in the doorway, a woman of such breathtaking beauty that the room seemed to have become strangely airless. She was tall and willowy with long blonde hair and appeared to emanate a faint, silvery glow. To complete this vision of perfec tion, she was carrying a heavily laden breakfast tray.**

All of the guys looked dreamy at that description, causing the three girls to look at one and other. Lily shook her head, "Boys and their food."

" '**Arry," she said in a throaty voice. "Eet 'as been too long!"**

**As she swept over the threshold toward him, Mrs. Weasley was revealed, bobbing along in her wake, looking rather cross.**

"**There was no need to bring up the tray, I was just about to do it myself!"**

"**Eet was no trouble," said Fleur Delacour, setting the tray across Harry's knees and then swooping to kiss him on each cheek: He felt the places where her mouth had touched him burn. "I 'ave been****longing to see 'im. You remember my seester, Gabrielle? She never stops talking about 'Arry Potter. She will be delighted to see you again."**

"**Oh … is she here too?" Harry croaked.**

"**No, no, silly boy," said Fleur with a tinkling laugh, "I mean next summer, when we — but do you not know?"**

**Her great blue eyes widened and she looked reproachfully at Mrs. Weasley, who said, "We hadn't got around to telling him yet."**

**Fleur turned back to Harry, swinging her silvery sheet of hair so that it whipped Mrs. Weasley across the face.**

"**Bill and I are going to be married!"**

"**Oh," said Harry blankly. He could not help noticing how Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny were all determinedly avoiding one another's gaze. "Wow. Er — congratulations!"**

**She swooped down upon him and kissed him again.**

"**Bill is very busy at ze moment, working very 'ard, and I only work part-time at Gringotts for my Eenglish, so he brought me 'ere for a few days to get to know 'is family properly. I was so pleased to 'ear you would be coming — zere isn't much to do 'ere, unless you like cooking and chickens! Well — enjoy your breakfast, 'Arry!"**

**With these words she turned gracefully and seemed to float out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her.**

**Mrs. Weasley made a noise that sounded like "tchah!"**

"**Mum hates her," said Ginny quietly.**

"**I do not hate her!" said Mrs. Weasley in a cross whisper. "I just think they've hurried into this engagement, that's all!"**

"**They've known each other a year," said Ron, who looked oddly groggy and was staring at the closed door.**

"**Well, that's not very long! I know why it's happened, of course.****It's all this uncertainty with You-Know-Who coming back, people think they might be dead tomorrow, so they're rushing all sorts of decisions they'd normally take time over. It was the same last time he was powerful, people eloping left, right, and center —"**

"**Including you and Dad," said Ginny slyly.**

"**Yes, well, your father and I were made for each other, what was the point in waiting?" said Mrs. Weasley. "Whereas Bill and Fleur … well … what have they really got in common? He's a hard working, down-to-earth sort of person, whereas she's —"**

"**A cow," said Ginny, nodding. "But Bill's not that down-to-earth. He's a Curse-Breaker, isn't he, he likes a bit of adventure, a bit of glamour. … I expect that's why he's gone for Phlegm."**

"**Stop calling her that, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley sharply, as Harry and Hermione laughed. "Well, I'd better get on. … Eat your eggs while they're warm, Harry."**

**Looking careworn, she left the room. Ron still seemed slightly punch-drunk; he was shaking his head experimentally like a dog trying to rid its ears of water.**

"**Don't you get used to her if she's staying in the same house?" Harry asked.**

"Used to her?" questioned Remus.

"She's part Veela," Hermione explained with a slight edge in her voice.

"Ah."

"What's with her accent? Where is she from?"

"She's French."

"Where do you know her from?"

"You'll find out when we talk about our fourth year."

Sirius pouted. He had thought for a second he was actually going to get an answer.

"**Well, you do," said Ron, "but if she jumps out at you unex pectedly, like then …"**

"**It's pathetic," said Hermione furiously, striding away from Ron as far as she could go and turning to face him with her arms folded once she had reached the wall.**

"**You don't really want her around forever?" Ginny asked Ron incredulously. When he merely shrugged, she said, "Well, Mum's going to put a stop to it if she can, I bet you anything."**

"**How's she going to manage that?" asked Harry.**

"**She keeps trying to get Tonks round for dinner. I think she's hoping Bill will fall for Tonks instead. I hope he does, I'd much rather have her in the family."**

"**Yeah, that'll work," said Ron sarcastically. "Listen, no bloke in his right mind's going to fancy Tonks when Fleur's around. I mean, Tonks is okay-looking when she isn't doing stupid things to her hair and her nose, but —"**

"**She's a damn sight nicer than **_**Phlegm,**_**'' said Ginny**

"**And she's more intelligent, she's an Auror!" said Hermione from the corner.**

"**Fleur's not stupid, she was good enough to enter the Triwizard Tournament," said Harry.**

The four from the past all looked over at the future kids.

"Or you'll find out now…" muttered Hermione.

"The triwizard tournament happened while you were at Hogwarts?"

"In your fourth year?"

"That's amazing!"

Once the Marauders said their part Lily sighed. "Why do I have the feeling that you ended up as a champion?" she asked, looking at her son.

He smiled sheepishly at her and replied, "We'll talk about that in a few chapters."

"**Not you as well!" said Hermione bitterly.**

"**I suppose you like the way Phlegm says ''Arry,' do you?" asked Ginny scornfully.**

"**No," said Harry, wishing he hadn't spoken, "I was just saying, Phlegm — I mean, Fleur —"**

"**I'd much rather have Tonks in the family," said Ginny. "At least she's a laugh."**

"**She hasn't been much of a laugh lately," said Ron. "Every time I've seen her she's looked more like Moaning Myrtle."**

Sirius frowned at that. He really wanted to know what had gotten into her.

"**That's not fair," snapped Hermione. "She still hasn't got over what happened … you know … I mean, he was her cousin!"**

"Oh Bloody hell! _I'm _the reason she's all depressed?

"I'm sure that was part of it, but there was another reason.

**Harry's heart sank. They had arrived at Sirius. He picked up a fork and began shoveling scrambled eggs into his mouth, hoping to deflect any invitation to join in this part of the conversation.**

"**Tonks and Sirius barely knew each other!" said Ron. "Sirius was in Azkaban half her life and before that their families never met —"**

"That's actually not true," Sirius suddenly stated, surprising (_A/N: some Sirius alliteration!) _everyone, "Andy was the only one in the family I _did_ see, so I have known Dora since she was first born, although apparently I won't be seeing much more of her in a few years," he finished bitterly.

James and Remus both put a hand on one of Sirius' shoulders.

"We won't let that happen this time Padfoot," James said softly.

"_None_ of this will happen this time," Remus said stonily, with a significant look at his other two best friends who were apparently going to die within two years.

Not if he could help it.

"**That's not the point," said Hermione. "She thinks it was her fault he died!"**

"**How does she work that one out?" asked Harry, in spite of himself.**

"**Well, she was fighting Bellatrix Lestrange, wasn't she? I think she feels that if only she had finished her off, Bellatrix couldn't have killed Sirius."**

"**That's stupid," said Ron.**

"**It's survivor's guilt," said Hermione. "I know Lupin's tried to talk her round, **

"Thank you Moony," Sirius said softly, his head in his hands. Remus merely gave him a tight smile in return.

**but she's still really down. She's actually having trouble with her Metamorphosing!"**

"**With her — ?"**

"**She can't change her appearance like she used to," explained Hermione. "I think her powers must have been affected by shock, or something."**

"**I didn't know that could happen," said Harry.**

"**Nor did I," said Hermione, "but I suppose if you're really de pressed …"**

**The door opened again and Mrs. Weasley popped her head in. "Ginny," she whispered, "come downstairs and help me with the lunch."**

"**I'm talking to this lot!" said Ginny, outraged.**

"**Now!" said Mrs. Weasley, and withdrew.**

"**She only wants me there so she doesn't have to be alone with Phlegm!" said Ginny crossly. She swung her long red hair around in a very good imitation of Fleur and pranced across the room with her arms held aloft like a ballerina.**

"**You lot had better come down quickly too," she said as she left.**

**Harry took advantage of the temporary silence to eat more breakfast. Hermione was peering into Fred and George's boxes, though every now and then she cast sideways looks at Harry. Ron, who was now helping himself to Harry's toast, was still gazing dreamily at the door.**

"**What's this?" Hermione asked eventually, holding up what looked like a small telescope.**

"**Dunno," said Ron, "but if Fred and George've left it here, it's probably not ready for the joke shop yet, so be careful."**

"**Your mum said the shop's going well," said Harry. "Said Fred and George have got a real flair for business."**

"**That's an understatement," said Ron. "They're raking in the Galleons! I can't wait to see the place, we haven't been to Diagon Alley yet, because Mum says Dad's got to be there for extra security and he's been really busy at work, but it sounds excellent."**

"**And what about Percy?" asked Harry; the third-eldest Weasley brother had fallen out with the rest of the family. "Is he talking to your mum and dad again?"**

"**Nope," said Ron.**

"**But he knows your dad was right all along now about Volde mort being back —"**

"**Dumbledore says people find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right," said Hermione. "I heard him telling your mum, Ron."**

"**Sounds like the sort of mental thing Dumbledore would say," said Ron.**

"**He's going to be giving me private lessons this year," said Harry conversationally.**

**Ron choked on his bit of toast, and Hermione gasped.**

"**You kept that quiet!" said Ron.**

"**I only just remembered," said Harry honestly. "He told me last night in your broom shed."**

"**Blimey … private lessons with Dumbledore!" said Ron, look ing impressed. "I wonder why he's****… ?"**

**His voice tailed away. Harry saw him and Hermione exchange looks. Harry laid down his knife and fork, his heart beating rather fast considering that all he was doing was sitting in bed. Dumble dore had said to do it. … Why not now? He fixed his eyes on his fork, which was gleaming in the sunlight streaming into his lap, and said, "I don't know exactly why he's going to be giving me lessons, but I think it must be because of the prophecy."**

**Neither Ron nor Hermione spoke. Harry had the impression that both had frozen. He continued, still speaking to his fork, "You know, the one they were trying to steal at the Ministry."**

"**Nobody knows what it said, though," said Hermione quickly. "It got smashed."**

"**Although the **_**Prophet**_** says —" began Ron, but Hermione said, "Shh!"**

"**The **_**Prophet's**_** got it right," said Harry, looking up at them both with a great effort: **

"Way to break it to them Mr. Suave," Ginny said with an exasperated shake of her red hair.

**Hermione seemed frightened and Ron amazed. "That glass ball that smashed wasn't the only record of the prophecy. I heard the whole thing in Dumbledore's office, he was the one the prophecy was made to, so he could tell me. From what it said," Harry took a deep breath, "it looks like I'm the one who's got to finish off Voldemort. … At least, it said neither of us could live while the other survives."**

**The three of them gazed at one another in silence for a moment. Then there was a loud bang and Hermione vanished behind a puff of black smoke.**

"What the hell?"

"**Hermione!" shouted Harry and Ron; the breakfast tray slid to the floor with a crash.**

**Hermione emerged, coughing, out of the smoke, clutching the telescope and sporting a brilliantly purple black eye.**

"**I squeezed it and it — it punched me!" she gasped.**

**And sure enough, they now saw a tiny fist on a long spring pro truding from the end of the telescope.**

"So that's how that happened. I thought that maybe you and Ron had finally gone at each other."

"Ha bloody ha Ginny."

Remus chuckled, "Well that's a hell of a way to break the silence."

"**Don't worry," said Ron, who was plainly trying not to laugh, "Mum'll fix that, she's good at healing minor injuries —"**

"**Oh well, never mind that now!" said Hermione hastily. "Harry, oh, Harry …"**

**She sat down on the edge of his bed again.**

"**We wondered, after we got back from the Ministry … Obvi ously, we didn't want to say anything to you, but from what Lucius Malfoy said about the prophecy, how it was about you and Volde mort, well, we thought it might be something like this. … Oh, Harry …" She stared at him, then whispered, "Are you scared?"**

"**Not as much as I was," said Harry. "When I first heard it, I was … but now, it seems as though I always knew I'd have to face him in the end. …"**

"**When we heard Dumbledore was collecting you in person, we thought he might be telling you something or showing you some thing to do with the prophecy," said Ron eagerly. "And we were kind of right, weren't we? He wouldn't be giving you lessons if he thought you were a goner, wouldn't waste his time — he must think you've got a chance!"**

"Optimistic aren't you," James said with a glance at Ron, who shrugged sheepishly.

"I have a point though, don't I?"

"**That's true," said Hermione. **

"See, Hermione agreed."

"Prat."

"**I wonder what he'll teach you, Harry? Really advanced defensive magic, probably****… powerful countercurses … anti-jinxes …"**

**Harry did not really listen. A warmth was spreading through him that had nothing to do with the sunlight; a tight obstruction in his chest seemed to be dissolving. He knew that Ron and Hermione were more shocked than they were letting on, **

"You aren't kidding there," Ron muttered. He had been bloody terrified at the thought of his best mate becoming either a murderer or victim, and slightly sickened by the thought that he preferred him to take the murderer route. What had bothered him the most though is that he saw very little he could do to protect Harry. He was powerless to stop fate. If he managed to save him one day, but Voldemort was still around, then he could just as easily die the next time, and Ron may not be able to be there to stop it.

**but the mere fact that they were still there on either side of him, speaking bracing words of comfort, not shrinking from him as though he were contaminated or dangerous, was worth more than he could ever tell them.**

The trio smiled at each other. That is what they did, they always put aside all their own fears and worries to help each other when they needed it.

"… **and evasive enchantments generally," concluded Hermi one. "Well, at least you know one lesson you'll be having this year, that's one more than Ron and me. I wonder when our O.W.L. re sults will come?"**

"**Can't be long now, it's been a month," said Ron.**

"**Hang on," said Harry, as another part of last night's conver sation came back to him. "I think Dumbledore said our O.W.L. results would be arriving today!"**

"**Today?" shrieked Hermione. "**_**Today**_**? But why didn't you — oh my God — you should have said —"**

**She leapt to her feet.**

"**I'm going to see whether any owls have come. …"**

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "I think you need to sort out your priorities." He adopted a slightly shrill voice and imitated, "There is a prophecy saying that my best friend needs to kill the darkest wizard at all time, no big. Oh Merlin, OWL results are coming! Whatever am I to do?"

Everyone else laughed and Hermione fixed Sirius with a calm look that promised payback later, and flipped her brown mane over her shoulder in a dignified way.

**But when Harry arrived downstairs ten minutes later, fully dressed and carrying his empty breakfast tray, it was to find Hermione sitting at the kitchen table in great agitation, while Mrs. Weasley tried to lessen her resemblance to half a panda.**

Now Harry was squirming away from his best friend as she glared at him for that description,

"Blame the author, not me!"

"**It just won't budge," Mrs. Weasley was saying anxiously, stand ing over Hermione with her wand in her hand and a copy of **_**The**__**Healer's Helpmate**_** open at "Bruises, Cuts, and Abrasions." "This has always worked before, I just can't understand it."**

"**It'll be Fred and George's idea of a funny joke, making sure it can't come off," said Ginny**

"**But it's got to come off!" squeaked Hermione. "I can't go around looking like this forever!"**

"**You won't, dear, we'll find an antidote, don't worry," said Mrs. Weasley soothingly.**

"**Bill told me 'ow Fred and George are very amusing!" said Fleur, smiling serenely.**

"**Yes, I can hardly breathe for laughing," snapped Hermione.**

**She jumped up and started walking round and round the kitchen, twisting her fingers together.**

"**Mrs. Weasley, you're quite, quite sure no owls have arrived this morning?"**

"**Yes, dear, I'd have noticed," said Mrs. Weasley patiently. "But it's barely nine, there's still plenty of time. …"**

"**I know I messed up Ancient Runes," muttered Hermione feverishly, "I definitely made at least one serious mistranslation. And the Defense Against the Dark Arts practical was no good at all. **

Harry gave her a mock offended look. "If I didn't know you were always mental when it came to exam results, I would be quite offended."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and the other two laughed. Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus all added the exchange to their list of things to find out later.

**I thought Transfiguration went all right at the time, but looking back —"**

"**Hermione, will you shut up, you're not the only one who's nervous!" barked Ron. "And when you've got your eleven 'Out standing' O.W.L.s …"**

"**Don't, don't, don't!" said Hermione, flapping her hands hyster ically. "I know I've failed everything!"**

"**What happens if we fail?" Harry asked the room at large, but it was again Hermione who answered.**

"**We discuss our options with our Head of House, I asked Pro fessor McGonagall at the end of last term."**

**Harry's stomach squirmed. He wished he had eaten less breakfast.**

"**At Beauxbatons," said Fleur complacently, "we 'ad a different way of doing things. I think eet was better. We sat our examina tions after six years of study, not five, and then —"**

**Fleur's words were drowned in a scream. Hermione was pointing through the kitchen window. Three black specks were clearly visi ble in the sky, growing larger all the time.**

"**They're definitely owls," said Ron hoarsely, jumping up to join Hermione at the window.**

"**And there are three of them," said Harry, hastening to her other side.**

"**One for each of us," said Hermione in a terrified whisper. "Oh no … oh no … oh no …"**

**She gripped both Harry and Ron tightly around the elbows.**

**The owls were flying directly at the Burrow, three handsome tawnies, each of which, it became clear as they flew lower over the path leading up to the house, was carrying a large square envelope.**

"**Oh **_**no**_**!" squealed Hermione.**

**Mrs. Weasley squeezed past them and opened the kitchen win dow. One, two, three, the owls soared through it and landed on the table in a neat line. All three of them lifted their right legs.**

**Harry moved forward. The letter addressed to him was tied to the leg of the owl in the middle. He untied it with fumbling fin gers. To his left, Ron was trying to detach his own results; to his right, Hermione's hands were shaking so much she was making her whole owl tremble.**

Lily's lip twitched at that. She had been the same way when it came time for her results.

**Nobody in the kitchen spoke. At last, Harry managed to detach the envelope. He slit it open quickly and unfolded the parchment inside.**

**ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS**

_**Pass Grades**_

_**Fail Grades**_

**Outstanding (O)**

**Poor (P)**

**Exceeds Expectations (E)**

**Dreadful (D)**

**Acceptable (A)**

**Troll (T)**

_**Harry James Potter has achieved:**_

**Astronomy**

**A**

**Care of Magical Creatures**

**E**

**Charms**

**E**

**Defense Against the Dark Arts**

**O**

**Divination**

**P**

**Herbology**

**E**

**History of Magic**

**D**

**Potions**

**E**

**Transfiguration**

**E**

There was cheering from the past people, mainly from James and Sirius. Lily smiled at her son, "Clearly DADA is your strong suit."

Harry smiled sheepishly.

**Harry read the parchment through several times, his breathing becoming easier with each reading. It was all right: He had always known that he would fail Divination, and he had had no chance of passing History of Magic, given that he had collapsed halfway through the examination, but he had passed everything else! He ran his finger down the grades … he had passed well in Transfiguration****and Herbology, he had even exceeded expectations at Potions! And best of all, he had achieved "Outstanding" at Defense Against the Dark Arts!**

**He looked around. Hermione had her back to him and her head bent, but Ron was looking delighted.**

"**Only failed Divination and History of Magic, and who cares about them?" he said happily to Harry. "Here — swap —"**

**Harry glanced down Ron's grades: There were no "Outstand ings" there. …**

"**Knew you'd be top at Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Ron, punching Harry on the shoulder. "We've done all right, haven't we?"**

"**Well done!" said Mrs. Weasley proudly, ruffling Ron's hair. "Seven O.W.L.s, that's more than Fred and George got together!"**

"**Hermione?" said Ginny tentatively, for Hermione still hadn't turned around. "How did you do?"**

"**I — not bad," said Hermione in a small voice.**

"**Oh, come off it," said Ron, striding over to her and whipping her results out of her hand. "Yep — nine 'Outstandings' and one 'Exceeds Expectations' at Defense Against the Dark Arts." He looked down at her, half-amused, half-exasperated. "You're actually disappointed, aren't you?"**

**Hermione shook her head, but Harry laughed.**

"**Well, we're N.E.W.T. students now!" grinned Ron. "Mum, are there any more sausages?"**

**Harry looked back down at his results. They were as good as he could have hoped for. He felt just one tiny twinge of regret. … This was the end of his ambition to become an Auror. He had not****secured the required Potions grade. He had known all along that he wouldn't, but he still felt a sinking in his stomach as he looked again at that small black E.**

**It was odd, really, seeing that it had been a Death Eater in dis guise who had first told Harry he would make a good Auror, **

Remus raised an eyebrow. That was definitely going on the list of things they needed to hear about.

**but somehow the idea had taken hold of him, and he couldn't really think of anything else he would like to be. Moreover, it had seemed the right destiny for him since he had heard the prophecy a few weeks ago. … **_**Neither can live while the other survives. …**_**Wouldn't he be living up to the prophecy, and giving himself the best chance of survival, if he joined those highly trained wizards whose job it was to find and kill Voldemort?**

"That's the end of the chapter," said James as he finished the paragraph, "Who wants to read next?

"We may as well keep it going in order," said Sirius with a shrug as he took the book from James and turned the page, "**Draco's Detour**… bloody hell, I have to read about this git?"


End file.
